Letting go and Moving On
by SneakyMist33
Summary: AU:Ronon Dex never thought he could fall in love again. He was fine on his own,and couldn't afford to worry about another person.But when he meets a woman equally skilled in fighting with a remarkable ability,he finds himself unwillingly falling for her.
1. Woman

Authors Note: This is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction about Stargate Atlantis. So please, be nice. I would greatly apreciate any reveiws you may have, so dont be shy! :)

DISCLAIMER: I in no way own any of the characters in Stargate Atlantis, i only own Leyna and her people.

Enjoy :D

Chapter One: Woman

_**I Tried So Very Hard Not To Lose It  
I Came Up With A Million Excuses  
I Thought I thought of Every Possibility  
And I Know Someday That it'll All Turn up  
You'll Make Me Work So We Can Work To Work It Out  
And I Promise You Kid That I'll Give So Much More Than I Get  
I Just Haven't Met You Yet**_

_**Michael Buble, Haven't Met You Yet**_

_**Atlantis – Ronon's Quarters**_

Ronon Dex sat on his bed, contemplating his life.  
He had everything he could have possibly dreamed of, especially when his tragically vivid memories constantly reminded him of everything he had lost. He had a home in Atlantis, a family in John, Teyla, Sam and surprisingly even Rodney. He had great friends, and he had his brilliant anger management therapy - killing numerous Wraith. He knew he should not be in this sullen mood, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't consider himself to be truly happy. Sure he laughed, but his smile never reached his eyes. He could feel his heart thawing out, but knew that it still was not completely healed.

His mind drifted off to a recent conversation with some marines off world the other day. They were talking crudely about "men's needs". While Teyla was less than impressed, Ronon found himself highly amused by the topic.  
"Oh come on man, it's been ages since I last got some! With a girlfriend a whole freakin' galaxy away, how else am I supposed to attend to these urges?" a marine smirked.  
"You utterly disgust me man," Lorne commented, "So much for faithful."  
"Speak for yourself sir," another marine chimed in, "I don't care how alien they are, I need a woman"

_A woman, _Ronon thought. He played with idea of having a woman around. Ancestors knew how long it had been. But was he really ready for that? His thoughts drifted to Melena, and he could painfully feel his heart begin to freeze again. No, he couldn't even think about being in love with another woman. It was unthinkable, to just forget about his dead wife, and their life that had been. Maybe he could have what John explained to him as a 'friend with benefits'? No, he could not do that to a woman, too degrading, too disrespectful.

"_Ronon? It's Teyla, you are required in the briefing room." _Teyla's voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts in the little radio in his ear.

"Yea sure, be there in a minute." He replied, as he grabbed some shoes and a shirt. He didn't need a woman at all. He was fine on his own. He always has been.

_**Off world – Andorra**_

_How the hell did this happen again? _Leyna thought, as she ran into the thick forest towards the Ancestral Ring. The angry cries and gun shots chasing becoming alarmingly closer served as a reminder to keep running as she stopped at a crossroads to remember which path to take.

_Who cares? _She thought as she randomly chose the path in front of her, _this is good enough!_

She continued running and leaping over fallen trees, logs and ditches with surprising grace and she tried to dodge, weave and immerse herself within the thick terrain. Suddenly, a large, warm hand grabbed her mouth, and pulled her in behind a tree, with great force. Her heart quickened as the unknown person pinned her against a tree, then on the ground behind a thick bush.

"Ronon, is the brutal force really necessary?" she heard one man whine.  
"Shh" the one she assumed as Ronon hissed. It was quiet for about a moment before she heard the men hunting her getting dangerously close. She winced in pain as the man's grip was tight and incredibly uncomfortable for her shoulder. Realising her distress his grip began to loosen, and she found an easy escape. Bending her leg backward to skilfully kick his head released her from the man's grasp, as she sprang around to impact another blow to her attacker's head. With him out of the way, she spun around to see the other man wide eyed, frozen with fear. She dismissed him and began to run away however she heard a strange noise like something powering up, before a painful blast hit her right in the back, immobilising her, and forcing her eyesight into complete darkness.

_Puddle Jumper- Andorra_

John's first thought when he saw Rodney and Ronon coming back with a hostage was not a pleasant one. This was supposed to be a simple mission, a trading mission. They needed some food supplies and if it wasn't for Rodney and his obsession for mysterious energy readings, they probably wouldn't be in this mess. After Rodney expressed his desire to check it out fell on deaf ears, he called on Teyla to support him. This gave John great hope that they could ignore McKay's request, but as Teyla pointed out that this was a civilization that was not suppose to have this kind of technology, he had no option but to check it out. They split into two teams, he and Teyla, Ronon and McKay. And after an hour of searching with no luck, he and Teyla returned to the Puddle Jumper to wait for Ronon and McKay.

Not long after, sure enough they returned. Rodney wide eyed, and Ronon expressionles as usual, with a lifeless girl in his arms.

"What the hell happened?"John asked, Ronon just shrugged,  
"I stunned her."  
"Why?!"  
"Because it's what we were looking for." He simply put, carrying her into the jumper.  
"Pretty sure a girl is not what we were looking for" John argued following close behind.  
"Umm well actually she is." Rodney muttered

John spun around to face Rodney, who quickly averted his eye contact.  
"Excuse me?"  
"Well," Rodney stammered, "We found her running away from a massive group of hunters, and according to this," he waved his computer in his hands, "the energy readings are coming from her."

"So why didn't you just take whatever was causing the readings off of her? Instead of rendering her unconscious?!" John began to shout,

"Well after Ronon stunned her, I tried to pinpoint wherever she was hiding."  
"And did you find it?" Teyla asked,  
"Well that's just the thing, I couldn't." Rodney was met with questioning eyes, and continued, "I couldn't find anything on her to cause such high and powerful readings, I mean there off the chart!"  
"What are you saying Rodney?" John was losing his patience.  
"I'm saying the energy readings are literally coming FROM her."

_This was not good _John thought. _What good could possibly come from this?  
_


	2. A Silent Mistake

**Authors Note: **thankyou to the people that reviewed. i'm glad you enjoyed it!  
i'm on holidays at the moment so in between work i'm on the computer writing. If you have suggestions please let me know, and please continue to review the chapters!!  
take care :)

Chapter 2:

_**Andorra – Puddle Jumper**_

_The first thing he noticed when he saw her running through the forest was how graceful she was. The second was her beauty. Her wavy, dirty blonde hair framed her hard and immaculate face. Even with a number of men chasing behind her, Ronon could tell she was enjoying the chase to a certain degree. He smiled as he watched her run. She was undoubtedly beautiful, but Ronon knew better than to trust first impressions._

"_Are you sure it's her?" He had asked wanted to be sure.  
"Yes of course I'm sure" he said, obviously annoyed. Ronon sighed and moved to intercept the girl. _

"Hello? Buddy you in there?" He herd John's voice and instantly snapped out of his memory. "Do you need Teyla to fix that?" he repeated, pointing to his head. Ronon raised his hand to his head, feeling a slight bump above his brow, and wet sticky blood beginning to dry.  
"No it's fine"  
"How did you do that anyway?"  
"It was the girl." Rodney interjected, and smiled at John and Teyla's surprise.  
"Really?" Teyla exclaimed, trying her best to hide amusement in her voice.  
-"No"  
-"Yes" Ronon and Rodney said at the same time.  
"How did that happen?" John asked, still disbelieving.  
Rodney began to open his mouth but Ronon intervened. "Never mind, she's waking."

* * *

Lenya stirred, completely unaware of her surroundings. Her body ached and the ground was cold and hard. As she moved a little bit more she sensed other people and immediately froze. How had she let this happen? Her people could not afford another stuff up from her.

"We know you're awake" a gruff and familiar voice asked. Caught, she slowly opened her eyes to see four people warily holding guns to her face.  
She looked at the man with the dark, long dreadlocks closest to her. He seemed the more relaxed out of the four as he sat on the chair with his gun loosely in his hand, his emerald eyes glistening in the sun and his smirk that sent shivers throughout her body. Curiosity flared within her, but as she matched his voice to the one she remembered as Ronon, that curiosity quickly fizzled to anger.

She looked over the other three, the woman with a hard yet compassionate face, the wide eyed man from before was busy fussing over something noisy, and another man, tall with short hair. His eyes made him look soft, yet his strong demeanour said otherwise. She knew better than to act on first impressions.

"Who are you?" The man with the gun demanded. Leyna remained silent. This was not her first interrogation, she remained silent. "I said who you are?"  
"John," the woman softly cut in, "perhaps we should try a different method?" The one named John became even more alert as the woman lowered her weapon, and crouched down to Leyna's height.  
"My name is Teyla Emmagen, this is Colonel John Sheppard, this is Dr. Rodney McKay and that is Ronon Dex."  
Leyna looked over to Ronon, he remained unmoved.  
"We mean you no harm. Just a simple misunderstanding."  
"You captured me." Leyna spoke, being careful not to let fear spill through her words.  
"Yes, and for that we are sorry. We were tracking an energy reading and that lead us to you. I apologise for how you have been treated, although something tells me you are quite capable of taking care of yourself." She looked towards Ronon gesturing to a cut above his eyebrow.  
Smiling Leyna said, "What is your point?"  
"Her point?" the one called Rodney McKay asked, fiddling with his small computer, "her point is there is no conceivable reason as to why you are giving off an unidentified energy reading without so much as a devise on you."  
Leyna froze. How was it possible that they had figured this much out about her with that little square computer? No matter what they did to her, she could not let them discover her secret.

"I have no idea what you are talking about" Leyna denied, hoping that the slight shakiness in her voice would go unnoticed. She heard Ronon stifle a laugh.  
"Okay," Teyla asked, "Well then perhaps you can tell us why you were being chased?"  
"I don't know."  
"Teyla," the man named John groaned, "I think we can all tell where this is going to go."  
"Well what do you propose we do then?"  
"I say we give her to the people who want her." Ronon stated. Fear rippled through Leyna, and Teyla noticed Leyna's growing distress.  
"No Ronon." She said sternly.

While they were debating what to do with her, Leyna took the chance to look around. It was a small circular sort of ship, and as she carefully twisted to look behind her, she saw what looked to be the control panel. Surprise welcomed itself as she recognised the symbols to be the language of the ancients. _Who were these people? _She decided to voice her questions.

"Where are you from?" she asked openly. The one she remembered as the Colonel answered first.  
"A Village from another planet. A lot like this one."  
Did they really think she was that stupid? "Well then how is it you have an ancestors ship?" she pointed out, raising her eyebrow.  
"You know what this is?" the whiny one they called McKay asked.  
"I'm not stupid." She replied bluntly. She felt a private sense of triumph as they looked at her dumbfounded and shocked that she recognised the ship. She couldn't help but smirk.

John sighed and lowered his weapon. "Okay, I think we got off on the wrong foot here. The reason you are here, is because we were curious as to what the energy reading came from. You were not supposed to be involved like this. We're sorry"  
That seemed honest enough to Leyna. Surely she could give a little bit of harmless information in return.  
"My name is Leyna Amill. And I came to Andorra in search of people."  
"People?"  
"Yes, people." She was stepping in touchy territory now. She reminded herself to be careful.  
"What kind of people?"  
"Just people."  
"Just people in general?" John said disbelievingly,  
"Yes."  
"Great, I thought we were actually getting somewhere."  
Leyna needed to leave. Needed to stay on the move.  
"Am I a prisoner?" she asked,  
"No you are not." Teyla answered.  
"Well then you don't mind if I leave then." Leyna said and stood up. She noticed Ronon stood up with her, never missing a beat.  
Looking to the Colonel for permission, Teyla stood out of her way.

As Leyna walked out of the ship, she knew something was wrong. The fresh air felt thick and stiff. She froze mid step.  
"What is it? Whats wrong?" She herd Rodney McKay's panic stricken voice.  
"Quiet" Leyna ordered harshly.  
Ronon walked up beside her, scanning the thick forest. Things were way to quiet for her liking. A fuzzy sensation suddenly surrounded her body as three things happened simultaneously.

One, a knife was thrown directly towards Ronon's chest. Two, Leyna stuck out her hand towards the moving knife and froze it in mid air, inches from Ronon's chest earning gasps from the others behind her and three, men came running from everywhere, weapons the ready, surrounding them completely.

_Crap! _Leyna thought. _I've really done it now.  
_

_**To Be continued**_


	3. Atlantis

Chapter 3: Atlantis

_**Jumper- Andorra**_

"Get in!" John shouted to Leyna  
"Warning shots" he ordered as Ronon, Teyla and John began to shoot into the sky. After he saw Leyna get in, he told Teyla and Ronon to fall back into the jumper. He followed behind and closed the hatch. Making his way to the driver seat, he kicked off Rodney and began to take off. The sounds of things hitting the outside of the jumper instantly ceased as he raised the shields. Flying away towards the gate, he turned to Leyna,  
"Change of plans, were taking you home with us for the time being."  
"Where what?!" Rodney exclaimed,  
"Where taking her with us."  
"Why the hell would we do that? Did you just see what she did?"  
"Lets not worry about that now Rodney, I told Sam this mission will not turn hostile."  
"But-"  
"Enough Rodney!" John exclaimed.

_Why couldn't they just have one mission that went according to plan?_

* * *

Ronon sat in his chair looking at Leyna in the back with Teyla.  
_Leyna,_ he thought. _It suites her.  
_Confusion flickered his mind as he wondered why he cared so much about her name. It shouldn't matter to him whatever her name was. She was just passing through.  
Against his better judgment, the thought made him sad and he yearned to hear her voice again. When she first spoke, his body electrified and warmed. But when she was silent, he was his body was nonresponsive and cold.

Craving to feel that warmth again, he stood up and went to sit next to Teyla, directly across from Leyna.  
"How did you do that?" he asked,  
"Do what?"  
Sure enough, the warm feeling came back.  
"You know what." He responded. He didn't know why he sounded so harsh, but he did nothing to change his tone.  
"Can't you just say thank you and be done with it." She answered. Staring at him directly into his eyes, her ocean blue eyes were just as piercing as his own and Ronon smiled in amusement as she did not look away, but narrowed her eyes.  
He could feel Teyla's questioning gaze on him and decided to leave it as he knew Leyna would say nothing further.  
"Thank you." He said and went back to his seat.

_**Atlantis**_

Leyna stood in awe as the ship went through the Ancestral Ring and into the bright and unbelievable city she did not know.  
"Welcome to our home" Teyla smiled next to her. Leyna smiled in return and as the door opened, she followed the team out and into what Teyla had described as the gate room. She was met by a woman to whom she assumed was their leader.  
"Hey," the woman greeted her cheerfully. "My name is Samantha Carter, I'm the leader of this expedition."  
"I'm Leyna Amill"  
"Well Leyna, welcome to our home."  
"Thank you, Samantha Carter."  
"Please, call me Sam." She smiled.  
"Of course." Leyna nodded. Looking around, she noticed that no one had told her exactly where their home was.

Leyna also noticed Ronon walking away to another room, and couldn't help but feel a little sad.  
"If you'd like I'll have Teyla escort you to a private room. You can make yourself comfortable, and we'll be in touch with you shortly." Sam gestured towards a corridor, and snapping out of her daydream, Leyna smiled and silently followed Teyla. As they were walking to her room, Leyna tried to take in all of her surroundingslike the structure, paintwork, and any markings or forms of text. She had heard stories as a child of a place that existed long ago incredibly similar to this, but was not completely convinced that this was the place. Nonetheless, she voiced her thoughts.

"Is this Atlantis? City of the Ancients?"  
Teyla's face suddenly became concerned, and Leyna could tell she did not know what to say.  
"Don't worry, you do not need to answer that." Leyna smiled. Although she knew it was a confirmation that she was right. Confusion spread across Teyla's face, and Leyna explained.  
"I understand the need for secrecy."

They stopped at a door and Teyla opened it, signalling for Leyna to enter. As she walked in, she noticed that Teyla stayed behind. "You will not come in?"  
"I am sorry, but I am required elsewhere."  
Teyla took her leave and left Leyna alone with two guards outside her doorway. The guards were not really necessary, but she felt safe and protected for some ludicrous reason, as she was sure they were there to protect them from her. Not that they would stop her from leaving she thought sourly.

She sat on the bed and rested her aching body. It tired her to use her 'special abilities', which was why she never used them much. Now that she thought of it, she did not know why she had done what she had done in the first place. The knife would not have harmed Ronon that much; it was badly aimed and probably would have landed in his arm. Was it a reflex? Possibly, but whatever it was she had to be careful and she knew they would question her about it.

Leyna suddenly felt uneasy, as she closed her eyes, and waited for one of them to return.

_**Atlantis- Briefing Room**_

Anger rose within Ronon's chest as Rodney, Teyla, John and Sam debated on the fate of Leyna Amill. From the way things were going, she was fast becoming a prisoner, and this angered him. He came to the conclusion he felt somewhat possessive of Leyna, even though he had no right to be. He realised this in the locker room as a team was getting ready for an off world mission, and they were coming back from theirs. He overheard some marines talk about Leyna, about how pretty she was, and about how remarkable her body was. Ronon thought of how her tight, earth green laced bodice hugged her figure, and how her lower half was shown off by a long flowing skirt that split up both sides of her long legs. It both worried and shocked him about how intrigued he found himself by her. He found himself wanting to be in her presence and hear her voice.

_Snap out of it_, He said to himself. Ronon brought his attention back to the matter at hand and offered his opinion to the group.  
"Why can't we just ask her?"  
"Oh yea that's a great one Ronon," McKay scoffed. Ronon was not in the mood for his sarcasm. "Let's just ask the pretty little girl, how she can stop things with her hands! 'Cause she was so much help explaining things last time!"  
"Rodney" Sam warned, "Ronon's right, we need to give her the chance to explain. Can you go get her?"  
Ronon nodded and got up to leave,  
"I will go with Ronon." Teyla voiced, and followed after.

Half way there, Ronon could not stand Teyla's silence any longer. He had known her long enough to see something was puzzling her.  
"Say it." He told her.  
Smiling, Teyla responded, "I am both surprised and intrigued as to why you are so interested in Leyna."  
"Who says I am?" He smirked  
Teyla laughed, "No one."  
They reached Leyna's room and opened to find her lying on the bed. She seemed unaware or their presence and both walked up behind her.

"Yes I know" Leyna muttered, "I believe we can trust them."  
Confusion spread across Teyla and Ronon's face as they listened further.  
"I am telling you Magine, they can be trusted. They live within the City of the Ancients!"  
"Who is she talking to?" Teyla whispered concerned, as Ronon shook his head and mimicked Teyla's concern. Leyna gasped and stood up facing Teyla and Ronon.  
"How long have you been there?" she demanded, visibly out of breath.  
Teyla raised her hands, "Please, we mean you no harm. We have come to take you to Sam, our leader. She wishes to speak with you."  
Ronon noticed Leyna's cheeks begin to blush. _Was that embarrassment?_ He thought as she silently followed them to the briefing room.

Leyna sat on one side, and John, Teyla, Rodney, Sam and Ronon were on the other.  
"Colonel Sheppard has informed me that you saved the life of a team member," Sam Carter gestured towards Ronon, "and are also looking for some people."  
Leyna nodded, not sure where Sam was going with this.  
"I would like to thank you for doing this, and as a token of my gratitude I am willing to offer you asylum here, or if you would prefer, we can help you look for these people you were searching for."

That was the last thing she expected the Leader of Atlantis to say.  
"Of course, "Sam continued, "You don't have to make this decision straight away, but we would like to perhaps ask you a few questions?"  
Leyna nodded, still shocked at their generous offer.  
"John and his team have informed me on everything that happened on Andorra, I would like to ask you to perhaps explain these circumstances for yourself."  
"Certainly, but I should warn you, it's is long story." Leyna explained  
"That is of no concern" Teyla chimed in contentedly.  
"As you wish." Leyna took a deep breath and began her life's story.

**_To be continued_**


	4. Decisions

**Authors Note:** I have recently watched X men, and I love how magneto can control metal. I in no way own Magneto, but I have worked some similarities between Magneto's powers and Leyna's. I promise you they will not be the same. I only wish to mention that this was the inspiration behind Leyna's powers.  
So please don't get too mad.  
Enjoy!

**Chapter 4: Decisions**

Sam took a deep breath as she sat alone in her office. After Leyna story, she was pleased that she had offered her asylum and help find some of her people. Sam closed her eyes, put her head in her hands on her table and began to process what had just happened in the briefing room.

"_Well as you know, my name is Leyna Amill. You also know, that I have a 'special ability'. I am able to control and manipulate metal. But only to a certain degree."  
"To what degree?" asked McKay curiously.  
"A small one. It drains me to use these abilities, so I can only manage small things like, knifes and swords."  
"What about the energy readings?" John asked,  
"I believe you are referring to my magnetic field. It surrounds my body and allows me to sense metal compounds. It also acts as a personal safety shield as I become aware of things within a dangerous vicinity."  
"Can all of your people do this?" Teyla wondered aloud  
"No not all. During some experiments, our scientists found a unique gene within a small portion of our people. The ones that possessed the gene had their own unique ability. Like my brother Magine, he has control over people senses."  
"Where are your people?" Ronon asked hesitantly. Sam wondered why he sounded so unsure of his question, but understood as Leyna's face became sad and glum.  
"The Wraith had become aware of our 'special abilities' two generations ago and began to cull our people quite frequently. The people without the gene blamed us for the constant attention, and turned on us, which resulted in what you saw today."  
"Andorra is your home world?" Ronon asked bemused. Leyna nodded.  
"Your own people began hunting you?" Sam asked astonished.  
"Yes, there are only a handful of us left. Probably about 8 or 9. No more than 10"  
"How do you know this?"  
"Another perk of the gene," Leyna smiled, "We all are able to sense each other. Some of us can even communicate with each other mentally."  
"Like the Wraith?" McKay queried.  
"I am nothing like the Wraith!" Leyna scornfully hissed,  
"I'm sorry," McKay recovered, "I'm just trying to reason how you can do that"  
Ronon jabbed Rodney in the ribs, warning him to keep quiet.  
"Some of us are able to establish a permanent link between two people, and two people only. With this person we are able to do more than sense them. We feel them."  
Sam saw Ronon shift uncomfortably, worry crossing his face, "Do you have this with someone?" he asked  
"Yes"  
"Who?" Ronon asked, his tone becoming harder.  
"My brother."  
Sam noticed Ronon relax. _What was with him? _She wondered  
"I am able to talk to him wherever I am, distance is not a problem. I can also feel him. It gives us both piece of mind to know the other is healthy and well." Leyna Smiled  
"Why did you go back to your home planet if they hunt you?" John asked.  
"I have few friends back on Andorra. I pay them a visit to let them know I am well every now and then. Unfortunately, this time I was a bit careless and was seen by a hunter."  
"What do you plan to do now?"  
"I travel from planet to planet. I have not seen another like me apart from my brother in 8 years."  
"Do you have any problems with Wraith?" Teyla inquired  
"Many, I come across them more often than I do humans" She said with a hint of excitement. "I am lucky I am skilled in fighting."  
"I see." Sam commented, "Well I would like you to seriously consider my earlier offer."  
"I already have"  
"Oh, and?"  
"I would like to temporarily stay in Atlantis."  
And from the corner of her eye, Sam could of sworn she saw Ronon smile._

_**Atlantis- Next morning  
**_  
Ronon woke up feeling alive. Form the moment he opened his eyes he felt excited. For what exactly, he didn't know. But he liked it. After having a shower, he grabbed his Bantos Rods and headed for the gym. When he entered, his mood was heightened even more.

Practicing with her back to him, Leyna stood silently with a long slender staff in her hands, stepping, like a dancer, with the up most grace. She began to demonstrate one sided attacks. Ronon was feeling playful and quietly dropped his bag and towel, and made his way silently behind her. Without warning, Leyna spun around with great speed, and smacked Ronon right in the stomach.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people." Leyna smirked.  
Receiving the blow unexpectedly, made it hurt more than it usually did. But Ronon did not let that waver him. He recovered quickly to place continuous attacks, each one being blocked by Leyna. They began a fast paced dance around the gym using anything and everything. Ronon began to get frustrated that he could not seem to place a single hit onto her body, as every move seemed to be blocked. Ronon used all of his strength to hit both rods in the middle of Leyna's staff, causing it to snap in half. Leyna was taken by surprise and Ronon used this to grab the two halves and dispose of them.

"Now let's see what you're really made of." Ronon grinned,  
Leyna returned the grin, and charged at him with striking speed. Predicting her next move Ronon blocked it, and the one after. They continued like this for some time, and Ronon saw the strain on Leyna's face beginning to show. He noticed how much she began to perspire, and realised she must be getting tired. Ronon threw his sticks on the ground, and continued to block, as well as attempt attack Leyna. He had to admit, to her credit, he had to block a lot more than he attacked. She had spirit, and skill. Something he admired in a woman.

Leyna was beginning to get incredibly frustrated. She grunted as Ronon continued to block every advance she made on him. She had never come across a person as skilled as herself, and this angered her. The smirk on his face made it torturous not to lay a blow to his face, as every time she tried, sure enough, he blocked it. She was getting tired. Ancestors knew how long they had been there. The air was hot and sticky, and Ronon's dark skin was sweaty and shiny in the light._  
That's it, _Leyna thought_ I'm putting an end to this.  
_Allowing Ronon an entrance to attack, Leyna prepared for a forceful hit. Bracing herself, Ronon hit her square in the jaw. Knocking her to the ground.

A second after she hit the ground; she felt soft hands lock around her wrists pulling her into a sitting position. Those hands suddenly found her face, and she opened her eyes to see her face alarmingly close to Ronon's. His heavy breathing tickling her lips.  
"You let me win" he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.  
"Sometimes you need to know when let go, and I could see that you would not." Leyna said between breaths.  
She still felt disoriented, but not form Ronon's hit. His face was so close; her body ached for attention, as his touch was burning her skin.

Grinning, Ronon lifted her up, one hand under her arm, the other on her waist.  
"I am fine; I have received worse than a hit to the face." She said. Ronon gestured to a scar on her left arm.  
"It's nothing," she said dismissing it.  
"I'm sure it is" Ronon replied, raising his eyebrow.  
"Did everyone originate from here?" she asked, grabbing the towel Ronon offered her.  
"No." Ronon replied, "Teyla is Athosian, I am Satedan, and everyone else came from earth in another galaxy."  
"But this is home for all of you now?"  
"Yes."  
The straightforward answered made Leyna smile. Clearly he was not a man of words.

Her heart was still beating fast, even though it had more than enough time to calm down from their vigorous sparring match.  
"How long have you been alone?" Ronon asked, with an expression she could not quite identify spreading across his face.  
"My brother and I would always stick together, ever since I was a child. But we decided to split up to better out survival. So I would say about 4 years."  
Ronon scoffed, "that's nothing."  
He instantly regretted his tone. Leyna stiffened and her face hardened.  
"And what would you know of being alone?" she retorted, equally as rude.  
"My home world, Sateda, was destroyed during the last culling. I was captured and turned a runner." Leyna's face softened in understanding.  
Ronon took the silence as a meaning to continue,  
"I then met Teyla and John. They were able to get a great doctor to take the tracking devise out of me." Leyna could tell the memory caused him pain. She wanted so desperately to console him, but resisted.  
"And ever since that day a few years ago, I have been living here with them. They have become my family. They are basically all I have."  
Leyna was shocked at how much he was divulging to her. It seemed so out of his character, to be so open. They even knew each other, but she got the impression that for some unknown reason he trusted her, just like she did him. and she was grateful. Because for a split second, she was able to see the man behind the armour, and what she saw warmed her heart.  
"How long?" she whispered, afraid that she was spoiling the moment with her voice.  
"Seven years." He simply said, before walking away and leaving her in the gym.

Leyna stared at the door he had just walked through. The electricity in the air was unmistakable. It was so charged, she felt like it would electrify her into an unknown abyss. The unknown excited her, made her want to chase it.

Part of her wanted it to retreat, most likely her brain. But another part, most likely her heart, wanted to go after something else.

**_To be continued_**


	5. Team

**Authors Note:** _PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE _don't forget to review! I really want to know what you think!

Chapter 5:

It had been two weeks since Leyna had arrived in Atlantis, and even longer since she last talked to her brother. She was beginning to get worried. This wasn't like him. Normally he was the one checking in on her. Magine was the careful, peaceful, responsible one. Whereas Leyna was the reckless, wild, emotionally driven younger sister, who was always getting them into trouble or caught. He once told her the need for his constant supervision, was to give him some peace of mind that she was still _alive._

_Not that he wouldn't _fee_l it._Leyna thought dryly. She made her way over to an empty table, with a tray half filled with food. Maybe she should just check in on him for a change, just see where he is. She knew nothing was physically wrong with him, as she would have known, or rather _felt, _if something wrong. But she felt the need to speak with him. She missed him.

Leyna relaxed her body and focused on nothing else but her brother. Her vision then changed from a bright, colourful Atlantis mess hall filled with people, to a dark abyss as far as the eye could see.  
"Magine" she spoke. Her voice clear and pristine.  
The deadly silence made her uncomfortable. She looked around her, seeing nothing but darkness. She tried again, this time more with more anguish.  
"Magine?" again she waited for her brother. "Magine! Where are you? I need you! Please, answer me!"  
Nothing was her reply, and Leyna started to panic.  
Just then a distant voice, not Magine's, interrupted her thoughts.  
"Leyna please, your scaring the neighbours."  
Her vision changed once again from the black, dismal darkness, to John and Ronon standing in front of her back in Atlantis. Leyna was confused.  
"What do you mean?" she asked in response to John's absurd statement.  
"That weird eye thing you were just doing. Not to mention talking to yourself. It's creepy."  
Leyna looked around and noticed the entire mess hall staring at her in shock, perhaps even fear.  
"I honestly have no idea what you are talking about."

* * *

Ronon and John made their way to mess hall for lunch. Both of them were starving. The mission they had just come back from was very tiring, not to mention boring. Just some stupid plant species, nothing more. Ronon hated those types of missions. He often daydreamed, usually forgetting what they were there for. During this mission however, he found himself daydreaming of Leyna. He had been avoiding her ever since that morning in the gym. He cringed with embarrassment at the memory of how open he had been.

Walking into the mess hall, Ronon knew immediately that something was wrong. Everyone was frozen, staring, in shock.  
"What the hell is going on here?" John asked rhetorically.  
Walking through the frozen crowd, Ronon heard a voice he had tried so desperately to get out of his head.  
"Magine?"  
Her voice was so beautiful. His blood pumped feverishly in his veins as they walked through the crowd. _Speak again dear angel_Ronon thought.  
"Magine?" This time fear registered in her voice, as Ronon shook himself out of his daydream and focused on Leyna's voice. Ronon and John found her sitting alone at a table.

"I was just coming to find you Colonel." Ronon and John turned to see Major Lorne walking up to them.  
"What's going on Major?" John asked  
""Well everything was fine. I saw Leyna get a tray, and sit down. Then all of a sudden her eyes went white. Like _really _white. She started talking to her herself sir." John acknowledged Lorne's explanation and he and Ronon made their way over to Leyna's table. Ronon's eyes widened as he saw her. She looked normal except for her eyes. Her normally ocean blue eyes were replaced with big, solid white ones. Ronon noticed her eyebrows furrowed, as if she was worrying or fussing over something.

"Magine!" She cried. Ronon's body shuddered. "Where are you? I need you! Please answer me!"  
Ronon looked towards John expectantly but receiving a perplexed look back at him. Well what did Shepherd expect? He sure as hell wasn't going to start the conversation.  
John sighed and then looked at Leyna again, this time more closely.  
"Leyna please your scaring the neighbours."  
Ronon watched as Leyna's white eyes cleared like a stormy sky back to its original ocean blue.  
"What do you mean?" She asked confused  
"That weird eye thing you were just doing. Not to mention talking to yourself. It's creepy"  
Ronon's mouth twitched in amusement as Leyna looked around at everyone. She looked so confused, it was almost cute.  
"I honestly have no idea what you talking about."  
Ronon took a seat, and John followed.  
"Your eyes." John pointed, "They were as white as snow."  
Leyna's hands moved to touch her face, "I never noticed they did that."  
"oh well...don't worry about it. People will get over it" John smiled.  
"Where you talking to your brother again?" Ronon asked, remembering the day she first came to Atlantis. He and Teyla were walking to Leyna's room where they found her on her bed, talking to no one.  
"Yes, but he is not answering me."  
"Is that normal?"  
"No. Normally he is the one contacting me."

"Well I'm starving, you want anything?" John asked Ronon completly igroneing what Lenya has just said,  
"Here," she offered her food tray towards the men, " I am not hungry anymore."  
"You sure?" John asked, already eating the food.  
"Yes" she laughed.  
Ronon smiled as he watched her laugh. Her eyes lit up and her smile was so infectious.  
"Well if you want," John began in between chewing, "We can go look for him"  
Leyna shook her head, "Thank you, but I'm sure it's nothing."

* * *

Afterwards, Ronon met Teyla in the gym. Their scheduled sparing match was after lunch today, which made Ronon feel glad he didn't eat much. Teyla greeted him with a welcoming smile as he entered the room. Having already stretched, she patiently waited for Ronon to warm up.  
"I would like to take it easy today," Teyla asked, "I am to help train some marines for the rest of the afternoon, so I would like to be able to stand once we are finished."  
Ronon squashed his face up in mock disappointment, earning a laugh from Teyla.  
"Sure,no problem" he quipped grabbing some bantos rods.

They began to circle each other, staring directly into the others eye. They knew enough about each other's patterns they no longe had the need to watch the other's body.  
"So I have noticed you have been avoiding Leyna" Teyla commented, dodging an attack Ronon had made.  
"What makes you say that?"  
"Because you constantly avoid her."  
Teyla made a move to attack Ronon's lower torso, he of course blocked it.  
"I am not avoiding her."  
"And because she told me herself."  
"What?" Ronon asked surprised. Teyla used this momentary distraction to direct a hit to his face and then stomach, causing him to topple over.  
"When have you talked to her?" he asked, recovering fairly quickly.  
"I visit her frequently. She is a very nice and engaging person. I enjoy her company." Ronon looked at her incredulously, "and we also spar occasionally. She is very skilled."  
Ronon couldn't argue with that. His memories flooded to that day they were going fighting endlessly. No one getting the upper hand.  
"Well maybe you should mind you own business." He said defensively  
"Maybe you should learn to be more open" she retorted. Ronon gave her a disapproving look and smacked her upper arm, then span around to land a blow on her. He did not want to talk about this.  
"So how's Kanaan?" Ronon asked innocently. Teyla's cheeks flushed bright pink as she grunted an attack towards him. Ronon chuckled knowing he had won.

* * *

Leyna felt nervous as she walked up the stairs to the briefing room. The team had been called for a mission so it came as a big surprise to Leyna that she was asked to be there as well. Walking into the room, she saw Teyla, Sam, John, and McKay, all sitting around the table. Ronon however was standing near the doorway, and as he saw her enter, he began to walk directly towards her. Leyna's heart began pumping as he came agonisingly close her.  
"I want to apologise." He said rather sincerely.  
"For what?"  
"For the way I have been acting around you."  
Leyna had noticed he had been avoiding her ever since that evening in the gym. It made her sad that she didn't get to look upon his tall and brooding structure, or gaze upon his angelic face. In fact, you could say she actually missed him.  
"It's fine, really" she said a little out of breath. He was so close, she could feel his breaths dance on her skin.  
Leyna took a seat next to Teyla, and Ronon next to her, as Sam began to speak.  
"Leyna, I'm sure you're wondering what you are doing here." Leyna nodded. "Well both Teyla and Ronon have mention to me what a great fighter you are. I have talked to John, and he agrees that maybe it's time for you start going off world."  
"You mean with you guys?" They all nodded.  
Leyna thought about what Sam was offering. She had secretly been dying to get off of Atlantis the past few days. Even though it was incredibly beautiful, she wasn't use to staying in one place for so long. She wanted some fresh air. Some _different_ air.  
"I would love to!" She all but squealed.

* * *

They spent some time after that going through the mission. They were to interact with an indigenous civilization they had never encountered before, and to determine if they were potentially dangerous, or if they had anything worth trading. It was a simple mission, but a mission none the less, and Leyna grew more and more excited by the minute.

They then geared up. Leyna taking a large knife, as well as several small hidden ones around her body. John also gave a rundown of a gun called a P90. It was easy to use, and could be strapped onto her thigh. The excitment in her peaked as she was ready to go. She walked out into the gate room with the rest of the team. She noticed Ronon eyeing her. She smiled but ignored his gaze as John began to walk towards the open ring.  
"All right team, "John chirped, "Let's move out."

_Team, _she repeated the word in her head.  
No longer was she alone.  
She was in a team.


	6. A tantalizing moment

**Authors Note:** DON'T FORGET TO REVEIW!!!! :D

Chapter 5: A tantalizing moment

_The trees whistled his name and Ronon found himself in a bright and beautiful forest. He looked around but saw no one in sight. He walked over to a stream nearby, bent down and washed his face. Ronon then closed his eyes, listened to the wind, the trees, the gentle whooshing of the river and took a deep breath in. His body froze as a familiar scent tantalized his nostrils. It was scent he hadn't smelled for over seven years. A scent he missed so much.  
"Ronon" the voice whispered. He quickly stood up and turned, gasping as he saw the owner of the ghostly voice. Melena, his dead wife, stood there, as beautiful as ever right in front of him.  
"I'm dreaming" he concluded.  
"Of course you are silly." She chuckled. His chest heaved at the sound of it.  
They stood there, staring at each other. His eyes were tortured and torn. Her face was smiling and immaculate. She looked happy  
"What are you doing Ronon?" she asked, taking a step toward him.  
"What do you mean?" he replied, however he knew exactly what she meant_

"_Why won't you let yourself be happy? Why can't you move on?"  
_Move on?_ He thought, _she wanted him to move on? _Anger arose in him  
"Why would you want me to do that?"  
"Because you're not happy Ronon" Melena took another step towards him and raising her hand, she placed it on Ronon's cheek. "You're letting my memory haunt you. Can't you see what this is doing to you?"  
Ronon couldn't believe she was saying this. She was asking him to let her go. He couldn't could he?  
"I don't know if I can." He whispered, closing his eyes.  
"You know you can, you're just too stubborn." She smiled.  
Opening his eyes, he gently removed her hand from his face.  
"You're just a dream." He said,  
"Am I?" she asked him, curious for his reply  
After a long pause, Ronon turned to walk away.  
"Yes." He said curtly, and then walked back the way he came. _

Ronon woke up in a sweat. _What the hell was that about?_ He wondered. Thinking over his dream, he tried to remember her smell, her voice. But it was useless. Looking around he remembered where he was as it was not his normal quarters in Atlantis. He remembered the team was on mission that had a wraith loose in one of the local villages. They had stayed and hunted it down, and as a reward, a generous inn keeper allowed them a nights stay. John slept soundly in the bed next to him. Rodney snoring loudly across the room. He laughed as he got out of his bed. Not bothering to put a shirt on, he walked out of the room to the downstairs bar.

He stopped at the foot of the stairs as he saw Leyna sitting at the bar, with a drink in her hand. It had been two months since she had joined the team, and all awkwardness between them was long gone. They had developed a great friendship, and Ronon admitted to himself that the flirting that went on between them was purely platonic and innocent. But looking at her in the low lighted bar, in a small night gown did something to his body. Her transcalent skin glowed in the light, and her figure sent shivers through Ronon's body. Her hair wavy hair was pulled into a messy, loose ponytail. He felt himself pull towards her, and blamed it poorly on her magnetic field.  
"Hey," he greeted her, slightly scaring her. It surprised him to feel how greatly it pleased him that she lingered on his half naked body, longer than she should have.  
"Hey back," she smiled. God she was beautiful.  
"Bit late for a drink don't you think?" he asked her, pointing to the beverage in her hands.  
"Well then what are you doing here?" she tilted her head slightly, raising an eyebrow. A low chuckle escaped him as he took a seat next to her.  
"Couldn't sleep" he mused  
"Neither." Leyna agreed, passing him a glass and the bottle of what she was drinking.  
Filling his glass and swallowing a gulp of alcohol, he looked at a loose strand of hair that had fallen, obstructing his view of her face. Slowly, he raised his hand, ignoring the abusive screams his mind was shouting, and gently pulled it back, tucking it being her ear. Smiling, she tiled her head towards him and rested it on his shoulder. His heart began pulsing in over drive as her sent burned his nose and made his mouth water. Wanting her closer still, he wrapped his arm around her and tightened their embrace.

There silence was comfortable, and at that moment all Ronon could do was smile. No other word summed the way he felt right then but blissful.

* * *

John woke to Rodney's loud snoring and looked for something to throw at him. He found one of Ronon's wrist bands on Ronon's empty bed and turned to throw it at Rodney. Just then, his mind clicked that Ronon's bed was empty. He lowered his arm and got out of his bed, instantly regretting it as the cold air gave him goose bumps. Walking out of his room, he silently walked down stairs and smiled at what he found. There was Ronon, at the bar with a drink in his hand and in the other, Leyna, leaning in his arm. John looked into the mirror across the other side of the bar where he could see the other side of the couple.  
_They're a good match._ _He looks peaceful, _John thought looking at Ronon. Smiling, he turned around and went back to bed.

* * *

The next morning Ronon was one of the first ones ready. Memories from last night filled his mind as he remembered how serene it all felt. Greeting the rest of the team as they came down for breakfast, he lingered on Leyna, who returned his smile and took a seat next to him.  
Their friendship was easy, simple, fun and flirtatious. He enjoyed the flirting the most he considered, stuffing his face full of the food placed in front of him. His mind began to remember the dream he had, and about what it could possibly mean. It surprised him to find that he didn't ache at the thought of remembering Melena's smell and her touch. She didn't seem to be mad at him moving on without her. Heck she had suggested it. He thought about whom he could possible start a relationship with, and his heart all but screamed one name. Maybe he really was ready to move on. Maybe it was time he began a new chapter, in his new life, with a new person.

**_To be Continued_**


	7. Attraction

**Authors note:** Dont for get to reveiw! i despeartly want to know what you think! Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!!

Chapter 7: Attraction

Leyna was in a state of panic. For the first time since she arrived in Atlantis, she wished she was anywhere but here. This foolish evening gown she was wearing, made Leyna feel stupid, even though every other woman was wearing one to.  
"I look ridiculous." She muttered,  
"Stop being so naive." Teyla laughed, "I'm sure you're going to have a great time."  
Leyna gave Teyla exaggerated look of torment.  
"What is the occasion again?" Leyna asked Sam, who was fixing her own gown across the room.  
"The IOA saw it fit to formally celebrate the so far success of the Atlantis mission. Very important people are here from Earth, people that have an enormous involvement in the Atlantis program, as well as some people very high up in the military."  
Leyna had no idea what the heck Sam was going on about. She looked to Teyla for help.  
"We do not need to worry about anything. It is merely a formal celebration of Atlantis."  
Leyna went back to the mirror, and stared at her reflection. She wasn't use to looking like this.  
"You look simply stunning" Teyla encouraged behind her.  
Leyna turned around, "I don't want to do this." She exclaimed in fear. Teyla only smiled. "You think I'm joking?"  
"You don't want to know what I think." Teyla smirked  
"Try me." Leyna challenged. After a long paused, Teyla sighed.  
"I think you are in such a state because of the man who is escorting you."  
Leyna glared at Teyla, who's grin only widened.  
"Your right," Leyna agreed, "I don't want to know what you think"  
Her comment was met with the laughter of both Teyla and Sam, causing Leyna to unwillingly crack a smile too.

* * *

"Ronon, seriously calm down buddy." John looked over at Ronon who was sweating bullets.  
"How can I calm down, when I look like an idiot."  
"You know, you actually brush up pretty good." John commented looking at Ronon in a tux. The only other time he saw Ronon looking this _clean_ was when they went to earth for John's fathers's funeral  
"It itches" Ronon complained.  
"Deal with it" John said as he finished buttoning up his uniform. Just then, there was a knock at the door.  
"It's open" Ronon called out. The door slid open, and there stood General O'Neil.  
"General!" John piped.  
"Colonel." Jack greeted entering the room. "My don't we look pretty tonight." He smirked looking towards Ronon.  
"I wouldn't sir. He's a little touchy tonight." John whispered, "He's taking Leyna."  
John instantly regretted saying it due to Ronon's glare making him feel that he should be rushed to the infirmary for multiple stab wounds. The silence was tense, and John felt a little awkward.  
"Right," he said self assumingly, "Let do this."

* * *

Ronon's heart began pumping up to point he thought he was going to pass out. He felt ridiculous and wanted nothing more than to be locked safely away in his room. He reached out to grab John arm.  
"I can't do this."  
John looked at him sceptically, "You really like her don't you?"  
"What? What's that got to do with anything?"  
"It's got a lot to do with everything" John explained.  
Ronon thought about it, and truthfully, he was petrified of what Leyna was going think. What if she changed her mind, and regretted accepting his offer to go with him? What if she laughed at him?  
"You've got it so easy Sheppard" Ronon muttered, and John smiled wryly.  
Kanaan was feeling unwell and was unable to make it, leaving Teyla without an escort. John happily filled in, and Ronon envied how easy it would be for them. They were just friends, no strings attached. Whereas he and Leyna...  
They shared a special connection that made Ronon breathless when he looked at her, made his heart beat faster. He knew that Leyna felt something to. So both knew that tonight was probably now or never to get their feelings out in the open. Ronon prayed that the feelings expressed were mutual.

They were approaching Teyla's room where they were to meet up. John turned to Ronon patted him on the back and said,  
"Look buddy, I'm not good at these kind of things. But I can see how she makes you feel. Heck, you're smiling for crying out loud. She knows you. The real you. So don't worry about anything."  
Ronon looked at John thankfully, and silently prayed to the ancestors he was right.

"We ready?" Jack asked them. Hand at the ready to knock.  
"As ready as we'll ever be" John replied.  
Jack knocked on the door, and the three men patiently waited. A moment later, Teyla opened the door.  
"Hey, you boys look wonderful!" She grinned, offering them to come in. Ronon entered and looked for her straight away. When he spotted her, his mouth fell open.

She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen with her floor length gown, a deep blue that matched her eyes. Her hair was curlier than its usually natural wave, and it fluttered down her back, framing her face. He tried not to gawp at her chest, but the pearl necklace she wore was simply stunning against her complexion, not to mention two very faint circular lines marking her cleavage.  
Ronon suddenly felt incredibly hot. He vaguely noticed her move towards him.

"I don't look that hideous do I?" She asked, laughing as she gently shut his mouth. Her touch electrified his skin.  
"Absolutely not!" he grinned. She smiled and took a step back and looked at him.  
"You don't look too bad yourself." She piped with a smirk.  
They stood there staring at each other, smiling. Ronon notice she looked at him with glee, as if she liked what she saw, and this gave Ronon hope.

"Are we all ready to go?" Sam beamed. Ronon looked at her arm that was weaved with Jack's and wondered if there was anything going on, but didn't ponder on it very long as he looked down to Leyna when he felt her entwine her arm with his. He smiled at her, debating on whether or not to grab her hand as well. Without thinking, his hand found hers and she accepted, giving it a light squeeze.  
"Abasloutly!" John chirped with Teyla on his arm. The three couples made their way to the gate room.

* * *

The night went on for what seemed like an eternity to Leyna, but none of it mattered because Ronon hadn't left her side the entire night. In fact the only time where they were not connected by an arm link or their hands were when they sat down to eat. Even then they had shifted their chairs to be closer to each other, and what pleased Leyna even more, was that there was no sign of awkwardness or nervousness between them. Everything was so easy and natural.

After the eating, the speeches and all of the formalities, the dancing began.  
"I do not know this type of dancing" Leyna commented, as her and Ronon joined John, Teyla, Sam and Jack at the end of the dance floor.  
"Not to worry I have an idea." Jack exclaimed, "Earthlings, grab an alien," he smirked offering a hand to Teyla.  
Leyna panicked and looked up to a smiling Ronon. He bent down and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, I won't be far." Before walking up to Sam, while Leyna accepted John's invitation.

They walked onto the dance floor, and John grabbed Leyna's waste. "Put your hand here, and here" John explained, as she put one on his shoulder, and the other in John's hand.  
They spent the next few minutes learning the dance steps. Leyna caught on quickly. She and John were such having a great time until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Ronon and Teyla standing beside him. She and John must have been having so much fun, they hadn't realised that the others had already swapped partners. Ronon held out his hand towards her, she looked back to John who gave an encouraging smile, before being guided away by Ronon.

* * *

_This moment is perfect_, thought Ronon. He looked down to see Leyna's head on his chest, her eyes closed and smiling, they were still dancing. Ronon looked around the room, and he no longer saw any one he knew. John and Teyla left a while ago, and Sam and Jack disappeared not long after. They hardly saw any of Rodney and Jenifer, which made Ronon smirk.  
He felt Leyna lift her head and yawn, bringing Ronon into realization of how late it was.  
"You're tired." He stated,  
"No I'm not." She debated, furrowing her brows.  
"Come on, I'll walk you to your room." He said, grabbing her hand.

They walked mostly in silence, but it was comfortable. They were comfortable. When they reached Leyna's door, she turned abruptly, causing Ronon to bump into her.  
"Thank you, for a truly great time tonight" She whispered. Her voice sounded so loud in the silent corridor.  
"Your welcome" was his reply.  
Ronon leaned his arm on the door frame, closing the distance between them.  
_This is it_, he thought, _now or never. _Ronon leaned in slowly, he gently hesitated at the touch of her lips. So far, she hadn't pulled away, but she hadn't gone in either. It was like she was frozen. Ronon decided to continue, and caressed her neck with his free hand, and deepened his kiss.

When Ronon pulled away to see Leyna's reaction, he felt his chest heave with panick. Her eyes were wide, and her body was rigid. Ronon was ready to make a hasty retreat, but right before he began to turn away, she placed her hands on either side of his cheeks, and pulled him into a kiss full of passion, desire and want. Ronon deepened the kiss and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into the room.  
Ronon barely remembered to lock the door.

**_To be Continued_**


	8. Unnecessary Worrying Part 1

**Authors note:** This is a **LONG** chapter, but i assure you it's filled with lots of action. Enjoy

Chapter 8: Unnecessary Worrying Part 1

_Thoughts were no longer necessary for Ronon as he let his instincts control him. His mind took a back seat as his hands roamed Leyna's body uncontrollably. His mouth continued to cover hers and a small moan escaped his throat.  
"Leyna" he whispered his voice deep and husky, "I don't want this to be one night only."  
"What do you mean?" she asked, out of breath.  
"I want you, all of you, to be mine .Because I am already yours."  
Leyna looked up at Ronon with her big and beautiful blue eyes and a small smile began to form at the base of her mouth. Her mouth covered Ronon's again in a kiss that answered it all _

The cool ocean's breeze swiftly made its way to Ronon's face, gently waking him up. He looked around the room, at his clothes spread randomly on the floor, and then at the angel sleeping peacefully on this chest. Ronon smiled as he watched Leyna sleep. Her smooth skin was warm and felt like silk on his own. Her hair fell loosely around her face and to the side of her body as Ronon began to softly stroke her back, letting last night's memories flood through his mind like a projector.

_Leyna's hands began to find their way up and under his shirt roaming his stomach, his chest and eventually his back. His shirt restricted her movements and frustration made Ronon quickly dispose of it, wanting her hands everywhere. Their lips remained glued together and their tongues engaged in an epic battle. Ronon lifted Leyna up against the wall and her legs wrapped tightly around his torso giving Ronon complete control over her. His hands moved themselves slowly up her thigh, as he pressed his entire body into her. Taking her off of the wall he carried her to Leyna's large bed, falling on top of her. Leyna began to take her gown off, struggling to do so with him on top of her. So Ronon reluctantly rolled off and began to strip himself, not caring where the clothes landed. He turned himself back to Leyna, who was still struggling to free herself of her clothes.  
"Let me help you" Ronon said, and began tearing the fabric off of her.  
Giggling, Leyna disposed of her clothes, and then pulled Ronon back on top of her._

"You ruined my dress,"  
Ronon snapped out of his reminiscing and looked down to see a grinning Leyna. His gaze shifted over to where her eyes were looking and smiled at the shredded evening gown on the floor.  
"Yea, sorry about that." He smirked.  
Moving herself up on one shoulder, so that her face was parallel to Ronon's, she leaned in and gave him a quick, but meaningful kiss.  
"No matter," She breathed, "I like it better on the floor."  
"Me to" Ronon responded, earning a laugh from Leyna  
Ronon began to caress her cheek with a finger, and suddenly her face became serious.  
"What happens now?" She asked, staring directly into his emerald ones, the faintest sign of fear showing in them.  
"What do you want to happen?" He asked, knowing exactly what he wanted.  
Leyna gave him a disapproving look. She knew he was dodging. Ronon decided to begin again.  
"I meant what I said last night. I am yours."  
"And I am yours." Leyna mused  
"You are mine" Ronon whispered, kissing Leyna's forehead.

* * *

Leyna was standing at the gate with John and Rodney, waiting for Ronon and Teyla so that they could go off world. The mission was the usual. Make friends with the people, and see if they have anything worth trading. Leyna liked going on these missions. Unlike Ronon, Leyna liked to see the nature of different worlds without the lust for danger. Not saying she didn't enjoy danger, because by lord she did. But it was just the peace each landscape would bring her, made her somehow happy. She was knocked out of her daydream by McKay who was arguing with John about an earth custom. They frequently had these quarrels, and while Teyla ignored them and Ronon would became annoyed, Leyna would find them incredibly amusing. She suddenly felt two large arms surround her, picking her up and crushing her radius. She squealed causing the others to turn around and look, making Leyna feel very embarrassed. Putting her down, she turned to find Ronon grinning widely, giving her the urge to smack him.  
"Leave me alone." She said disapprovingly  
"Never." Was his reply, and Leyna smiled and joined the rest of the group preparing to go through the star gate.

Both Leyna and Ronon decided to tell only those they worked with frequently about their new found relationship, making others double take the couple walking hand in hand and occasionally pecking each other in the hallways. To Leyna's relief, their friends were quite pleased to hear about her and Ronon and didn't give them a second glance making Leyna feel even more thankful for her new friends and her new home. The only thought that troubled her was that her brother had still not contacted her. It worried her greatly, but Ronon assured her she would know if something was wrong, giving her the slightest bit of comfort. As she stepped through the gate, Leyna pushed every though to the back of her mind.

* * *

_**Off world - P3X 773**_

Ronon made it a habit to always be close to Leyna when travelling off world. He didn't like to have her out of his sight as he became uneasy and worried. He knew he shouldn't be as she was as much of a great warrior as he was, but when he could not see her, when a stranger (especially a man) would approach her, or when they were in the midst of battle, his protective emotion was on full alert and he kept a _very_ close eye on her. Not that he only started doing this since they had been together, because he had done it before. Ronon only noticed it becoming a problem _after_ the solidification of their feelings. When Teyla would sense the wraith, his first thought was, _where is Leyna?_ When a mission became hostile, and they were receiving bullets and knifes being thrown at them, his first thought was _where is Leyna?_ Even though she would use her powers to protect not only her but everyone else, and she always had the upper hand when fighting one on one with a wraith, Ronon was always in awe of her skills but incredibly tense and nervous as he watched her in action. She both impressed him, and scared the hell out of him.

Looking around the planet, Ronon stepped to Leyna's side and followed John and the rest of the team on the narrow path. They were practically in the middle of nowhere, with a village in the distance. A small and thin forest provided minimal coverage should they need it, which instantly registered in Ronon's mind. He began to think of every possible hostile situation and where his team could take cover should they need it.  
"Oh great, a mile long hike." Rodney complained,  
"Oh hush up," Sheppard shushed him, "I've had my daily dose of Rodney whinging today."  
Rodney was going to retaliated but the ring suddenly began to activate again, causing everyone to stop and turn. Ronon's mind went into combat mode and shouted for the rest of the group to find some cover and grabbed Leyna's hand and pulled her with him behind a rock. As the ring opened several wraith darts shot through towards the village. Ronon cursed under his breath and wished that they had brought a puddle jumper.

"_Ronon, Leyna come in." _John's voice rung through his earpiece,  
"yea Sheppad?." Ronon replied,  
"Try and find any people you can and bring them to the forest. DO NOT under any circumstances enter that village. You understand?"  
"Yes Colonel" Leyna replied.  
"Copy that." Ronon agreed.  
He and Leyna then began to run through in search of any villagers.  
"Ronon!" he herd Leyna shout, and turned to see what was the matter, "I found a cave." She pointed to the entrance covered in vines.  
"Sheppard, Teyla, come in." Ronon radioed.  
"I'm here too you know." McKay's voice chimed in.  
"Go ahead." Teyla said, ignoring Rodney.  
"Leyna's found a cave, just north of out earlier position. It's quite big. So you can send some over here."  
"Thankyou Ronon, Teyla out."

* * *

The metal from wraith darts made Leyna feel sick. The Wraith technology had a combination of both organic and metal compounds that gave Leyna a bad taste in her mouth. The intensity of her senses became greater, as she felt her shield become defensive and solidify. With a gun drawn in her hands and Ronon not too far away, Leyna still felt on edge. Her body began to feel a slight pulling, and Leyna realised it was another metal compound a large distance away. It was hard to concentrate on the object as it was small, most probably a knife, with all of the darts circling them but Leyna allowed it to pull her towards it steadily holding her gun for protection.

Leyna saw nothing but trees and she continued to walk away from Ronon and the cave. She realised she was getting closer and closer to the village and the knife she had been sensing was even closer. Hearing something other than wraith darts she froze. Going against all of her instincts, and throwing common sense out of the window, Leyna called out for anything and anyone, knowing that she had just given her position away. She was met with silence.  
"Is there anyone there?" She called again, "I can help you to safety. I can assure you, I am not Wraith."  
A twig behind her snapped and she spun around to see a large group of people standing behind her. They were mostly woman and children although some men stood on the outsides of the tight huddle. A man at the front of the group held a handmade knife towards her.  
"You are not wraith" he accused, fear causing his voice to tremble.  
"No. My people came through the ring moments before. Follow me, I can help you to safety."  
She lowered her gun, and raised her hands, and when the man lowered his weapon she began to jog back the way she came, making sure none of the group where being left behind.  
"_Leyna where are you_?" Ronon's panic stricken voice shouted through the earpiece radio.  
_Oh crap,_ she thought. She had forgotten to tell Ronon where she had gone, and knew he was going be mad.  
"I am coming back with a large group of people, mostly woman and children, east of the cave."  
A moment later, she saw Ronon running through the forest with a hard and angry look on his face. Leyna groaned at the trouble that would cause later, but for now she fell back behind the group to hurry them up. A great surge of energy began to thicken within her body, as she barely heard John's voice shout thought the radio, "Dart heading your way!"  
She already knew what it was and turned to see a mother and child running to catch up behind them. The dart's beam shot down to the ground behind them, and Leyna ran towards them yelling and screaming for them to get out of the way. The beam grew closer and closer and the mother looked behind her and threw her child out of the beams way, being scooped up herself in the process. Leyna stopped in shock, as the beam continued on towards her. Her only thought was the child as she scooped up the little girl and began running towards the cave. She was vaguely aware of the little girl crying in her neck as she was running when loud explosion above her caught her attention.

She looked up to the dart now struggling to stay in the air as thick black smoke trailed behind. She turned around to see Ronon standing outside of the cave with his gun in the air following the falling dart. Guns began to aim and shoot at it, and Leyna was certain this it was Sheppard, Teyla and McKay. Ronon met them and took the child from Leyna's arms. Once in the cave, he handed it to a woman already holding a little boy and returned to Leyna, his eyes cold and hard.  
"Why didn't you answer my radio calls?" he demanded.  
"What radio calls?" Leyna asked shocked at his tone.  
"I called you several times. I turned my back for one second and you were gone. I thought you'd been taken!" He shouted.  
Leyna could feel the eyes of not only Ronon's burning gaze, but of all the people in the cave, as they stood there in silence. Anger began to rise within her.  
"I am sorry for not answering, but i did not hear you say anything. I was a bit preoccupied."  
"Yes I can see that."  
"What's that suppose to mean?" She argued, raising her voice to match his.  
"Running towards a Wraith dart, then trying to out run it with a child in your arms!" he exploded  
"I was not just going to leave her there!" she shrieked, rage spilling out of her. Pushing Ronon forcefully, she warned him, "I am not a child. I can look after myself! I do not need you to protect me!" and then retreated away from him.  
"Where are you going?" he asked, his voice soft and full of regret.  
"To take watch around the back." She replied coldly, tasting a tear full of her own regret.

**To Be Continued**

**DON'T FORGET TO REVEIW!!!!!!**


	9. Unnecessary Worrying Part 2

**Authors Note:** here's the next chapter. Again it's a long one. Hope you like it. Please tell me what you think. Good or bad. I'll take it. Just please review!

Chapter 9: Unnecessary Worrying Part 2

_**Off world – P3X 773  
**_  
"Where are you going?" Ronon asked softly, his voice full of regret.  
"To take watch around the back" Leyna replied coldly.  
Ronon watched as she retreated behind the cave, and cursed under his breath. He hadn't meant to be so harsh. This is what happened when he let his heart speak. Anger came out. But to be fair, it _was _half Leyna's fault. In a relationship or not, Ronon had to know the where abouts of his team members. He would have been equally worried had it been Teyla, given her recent experiences with Michael. And had she answer his radio calls, he would have found at least some composure when talking to her. She knew how he felt about not knowing where she was. They had talked about it before. They also talked about their pasts, and while he didn't go into details, he had told her about Melena. So surely he had some kind of right to be mad? To be outraged?

Ronon's thoughts were interrupted by a screaming McKay, and he looked to see him running through the thin forest with his arms covering his head while John and Teyla followed close behind shooting at the darts over head. Ronon came to their aid by shooting another dart down with his gun.  
"Where's Leyna?" John panted as they took shelter within the cave.  
"Taking watch 'round the back." Ronon replied.  
"When she didn't answer your radio calls we thought-"McKay was cut off by John's loud clearing of the throat, and Teyla's death stare.  
Ronon chuckled half heartedly, but replied harshly. "So did I. I went to go find her and she had all of these people with her. "  
"Well she could've told someone." McKay patronized  
"She was a bit preoccupied" Ronon growled defensively, "Besides, I've already had a word with her."  
"I'm sure you have buddy." John butted in.

Screams became noticeable in the distance and Leyna suddenly halted at the cave's entrance.  
"More villagers around the back." She panted, "I'm _going _to go get them." She said venomously towards Ronon.  
"I'll come to" Ronon said.  
Like hell he was going to let her go without him this time. He didn't care how mad she was.  
He trailed behind Leyna, scanning the trees for villagers or Wraith. He eyed Leyna's facial features as she scanned the forest for anything too. He became momentarily distracted as he saw pain spread across her face, then fear, then anger. He wondered why, and instantly craved to ask her, to understand. But the inner warrior consumed him as leaves began to rustle behind him.

As his brain caught up to his instincts, he realised he had already turned to the noise and was holding his gun to a man's face. Lowering it, he poorly attempted to apologise, and explained the cave. The man thanked him and a whole trail of people began to follow out of nowhere. He then joined Leyna again, but at a distance. She was frozen . His heart stopped at she stood lifeless in the middle of the forest, and understanding came when he saw her cloudy white eyes.  
"Where are you?" she demanded and then a moment later responded, "I don't know where that is."  
"Leyna this is not the time for this!" Ronon yelled in her ear. Did she really think that the middle of a culling was the perfect place for a conversation? Furry arose within him but he reeled it in and took guard around her, allowing her this moment to talk to her brother. She had been a wreck because of his disappearance so he decided to give her as much time with him as possible, hoping this would soften her mood with him.  
It was short lived as a Wraith came out from behind a tree hissing. He was noticeably wounded, and Ronon guessed he was from a fallen dart. Taking out his sword he ran towards it, wanting the battle as far away from Leyna as possible. The wraith was weak, and therefore didn't put up much of a fight.

A little scream pierced his ears, as his head rotated and saw Leyna on the ground with another wraith. Finishing off the Wraith beside him, he ran towards the filthy beast, which was beginning to strike his own sword towards Leyna. Leyna reached out her hand and Ronon watched as the tip of the blade bent towards the wraith. With the now bent sword, the wraith stopped in motion confused and dazed, and Ronon swung at him with one swift movement slicing its head off.  
Another dart beam hit the ground in search of people, and Ronon grabbed Leyna's arm and pulled her upright. She hissed and he instantly let go of her arm. Bright red blood oozed off his hand, and Ronon's eyes grew large.  
"It is fine, Come on." She breathed, grabbing his hand and running back towards the cave.

Running through the forest, Ronon repeatedly looked at the blood in his hand and at the dark patch on her clothes. _She's hurt._ His mind screamed. _I let her get hurt._  
As they reached the cave, Ronon thought he would be paralysed by the pain this caused him, and let go of the hand she held so tightly. She turned around and gave him a quizzical look, with a hint of fear cramming her eyebrows together, but she remained silent.

* * *

There were two types of pain Leyna constantly felt.  
Physical pain and Emotional pain.  
The physical pain never meant much to her. She was use to it, and no longer felt small cuts or bruises. She had developed a high tolerance for it.  
Emotional pain was a different story. Her body was electrified with the amount of worry she had for her brother. It was only natural as they were family. She had spent her entire life with him, and never knew what it was like to love another. But the pain she felt from Ronon was unbearable. Her chest weighed her down, and she felt immobilised at times. Yet his touch, his voice or his kiss would jolt her back to life giving her an energy she had never known. It frightened her to know another person was capable of this, yet she welcomed it, welcomed him. Ronon was new, and now she felt him as a necessity. Without her brother, he was her rock, her saviour and her protector. She hated it when her brother protected her, as she was capable of doing it herself. But it gave her security. When he left, she lost it. When Ronon came she found it. He made her feel safe.

And now she had gone and screwed it all up by her pride. His possessives never bothered her before. Sure it was irritating at times, he wasn't always this protective. She was fee to do her will, but she never wanted to do it without him. But today, an anger came out from now where and she used it like a weapon against him. She could see that she had hurt him. She knew that she was partly to blame as well. This emotional pain she felt was chocking her, and she longed for his touch. She craved the taste of his lips and yet here she was, yelling at him and making stupid decisions.

She took a seat on a rock behind the cave where she had earlier patrolled and watched as Ronon silently stalked around to the front. He had let go of her hand and gave her a look that sent chills up her spine. Her mind drifted back to the conversation they had had a while ago. They were in Ronon's bed, and had just made love. He told her about his wife. And while she was at first startled, she was soon crying as he told her of Melena's death. The conversation ended with Ronon consoling Leyna and she promised him, that he would never lose her.  
Lenya felt like kicking herself, as she realised what she had done today. She had put herself in danger, and came close to making what Ronon feared most come true.

Her head whipped around and Ronon came around the corner with a med kit and sat on the rock beside her. He began to tend to her sliced arm, and Leyna noticed he never once looked her in the eyes. Raising her free hand, she gently placed it on his busy ones tending to her arm. His eyes shot up to hers confused and she prayed that he could see the regret in her eyes. He gently took her hand placed it in her lap, and finished tying the bandage around her arms. When he was done, he packed up the med kit, and went back the way he came. Her hand instantly clasped around her mouth as hysteric sobs escaped uncontrollably. Even though he was out of sight, she knew that he could hear her.

He came back, bent down and wiped away her tears. His eyes were full of his own pain. When she managed to stop her tears from falling, He stood up, and silently stood guard with her.

_**Atlantis**_

The briefing was tiring, as they had to wait out the culling before they could return to Atlantis. The only time Ronon talked to her was when he reminded her that Magine had contacted her. Sam asked what about and Leyna told them that he gave her an address on his where abouts, and thanked Rodney when he left to go find the planet. The briefing ended and Ronon was gone before she knew it. She had to find him. She had Told Dr. Keller that her arm was fine, but Jenifer insisted on stiches. So Leyna had to wait 20 agonizing minutes, till she was released.  
He had just disappeared out of thin air, and Leyna was determined to find him. She needed to apologise.  
She thought she saw him go to his room but when she knocked, he didn't answer. She searched the mess hall, the gym, she even asked Teyla, John and Rodney. They all said he went to his quarters, which made Leyna go back this time with anger, as she realised he probably was ignoring her.  
She pounded on his door and yelled. "Ronon Dex answer this door now. I need to speak with you."  
When he did not answer she tried again, this time pounding more loudly. "Ronon!" she shouted. Still he didn't answer.  
"Fine. Be that way. I'll wait out here all night. I'm not leaving until you open this door."

She sat down abruptly with her legs crossed and her arms folded.

_**Atlantis – Ronon's Quarters**_

Ronon sat on his bed, and contemplated letting her in. The first time a knock came. He knew it was her. But he was still reeling at his earlier troubles, so he ignored it. When she left, he was slightly thankful, but mostly sad that she had given up. His heart jumped for joy that she was looking for him. He wanted to go out to her, bring her back and apologise but decided to leave her be.  
When she came back the second time, his heart jumped again. The only thing stopping him from opening the door this time, was that she sounded angry.  
"Ronon! She shouted. He remained seated at the foot of his bed.  
"Fine, be that way. I'll wait out here all night. I'm not leaving until you open this door."  
He chuckled at her stubbornness and walked over to the door. He opened it to find Leyna sitting on the floor.

"Get up" He said softly, starling her. Offering for her hand, she took it and stood up. He stepped aside and welcomed her in, bracing himself for whatever she was about to say.  
He shut the door, not sure whether or not to lock it, but he did. Just like every other night.  
"I'm sorry." She said clear and solid. He looked at her and saw the regret, just like she had shown him when he was dressing her wound.  
"What for?" he said confused. He should be apologising to her.  
"For being so stupid. I should never have been so reckless!" She began to babble ridiculous reasons as to why she was sorry, but Ronon walked up to her, placed a finger on her lips and shushed her.  
"I am the one who is sorry. I was over protective."  
He laughed when she didn't argued back and agreed causing Leyna to smile too. His heart warmed at the sight of her smile, but his face became serious when he noticed the ugly stitches on her arm.  
"But i let you get hurt."  
"It was my fault"  
"I should have been protecting you better."  
"You can't always protect me."  
"That's what hurts"  
They spoke in whispers now. And Ronon was so close to Leyna their breathing tickled each other.

"Please don't leave me." She whispered, as tears trickled down her cheek.  
"I was never going to." He retorted, shocked that she had concluded his actions that way.  
"Good." Leyna laughed, grabbing his face and pressed her tear wet lips to his. He grabbed her around the waist tightly as he parted his lips and welcomed her tongue to his.

Their reconcile was the best reconcile Ronon had ever known. That night as they made love, Ronon swore that when both he and Leyna were the point of pure pleasure an ecstasy, their hearts met and branded each other with a mark that was from here on out, irreversible.

**_to be continued_**


	10. Reconciliations

**Authors Note**: Not my favourite chapter, but it was necessary for the story. So i hope you enjoy, I'll post the next chapter soon :)

Chapter 9: Reconciliations

Rodney made his way over to Sam who was already with the Colonel. Letting himself in, he raised his hands.  
"Don't thank me yet guys, I'm only 99.99 percent sure" He smirked. He could feel his ego heighten.  
"Rodney, where having a private conversation." Sam sighed.  
"About what?" he asked confused.  
"We can't tell you. It's private!" John patronized shaking his head.  
"Fine whatever, but I found Leyna's brother." This caught their attention as both John and Sam stiffened up.  
"Are you sure?" John asked, his eyes staring directly into his eyes. Rodney began to feel nervous. What if in a highly unlikely event he was wrong?  
"99.99 percent sure?" Rodney said slowly, but his uncertainty didn't fail to be noticed.  
"You don't sound sure?" John argued.  
"Well that's 'cuz you're looking at me like that! I _was_ 99.99 percent sure till you started questioning me!" Rodney shouted defensively.  
He hated when John looked at him like that.  
"Alright Rodney calm down." Sam hushed, "You have a go. You'll leave in half an hour."

Rodney followed John out and started to head for his quarters to pack.  
"Go find Ronon and Leyna and tell them. I'll get Teyla" John dismissed, walking away.  
Rodney decided to go get his little computer in his room as Leyna's quarters were on the way.  
"Rodney!" He heard John shout. He turned around to see John across the hallway, looking as if he was debating something in his head. "Good work."  
Rodney smiled, letting the pride warm his body.

Making his way to Leyna's room, he found himself get nervous. He liked Leyna very much, everyone did, but truthfully she still scared the heck out of him. Sure she was as nice as a butterfly, but he had seen her in action and she was deadly. He had also witnessed multiple times her incredible ability and that freaked him out even more. He didn't wish to voice these thoughts as he didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression. He knew that if he attempted to explain it to anyone he would say the wrong thing, it would be taken the wrong way and then sure enough, he would end up in the infirmary or the morgue due to Ronon finding out. He loved Leyna as much as anyone else did. She had proved herself as a team member every time they stepped through the gate. She had saved his life countless times, but even though the pro's far outweighed the cons, some of the cons were just plain freaky. Like her metal controlling ability and her energy shield. It was so complicated Rodney had no idea where to start. Leyna constantly gave him permission to experiment on her, but it was always under the watchful eye of Ronon, which made it a bit awkward. And there was the eye thing. Rodney cringed as he would see her eyes turn white. He didn't even try to understand that connection thing Leyna and her brother shared. _One thing at a time _Rodney thought in his head.

Knocking on her door, he was annoyed that she didn't answer. He sighed at having to look for her, and made his way down the corridor to Ronon's room. Ronon would probably know where Leyna was any way. Knocking on the door, he heard a muffled voice before Ronon growled "Just a minute" almost in audibly. Sighing, Rodney turned to the computer in his hands and began to find Leyna's tracking signal. He smirked at the memory of how hard it had been to get the little tracking device past her energy shield. It frustrated Jenifer to no end. The door slid open to find a shirtless Ronon standing in the doorway, with his arms on either side of the door frame. Rodney could hardly see into his room, but didn't contemplate that thought any longer.

"I found the planet where Leyna's brother is supposedly hiding. John said we leave in 20 minutes." Rodney explained looking at his watch. He looked back to Ronon and realised that he did not have his usual brooding 'I am always so angry' face on. He looked relaxed and even happy.  
"I'll be there in 10."  
"Okay, umm don't suppose you know where Leyna is?" Rodney asked hoping that he wouldn't have to track her down himself. A smirk crossed Ronon's face.  
"Yea I know where she is."  
"Well do you mind telling me, so I don't have to track her?" Rodney said annoyed.  
A woman wrapped in blue sheets came out of nowhere from under Ronon's arm and stood in front of him. As Ronon bent down and wrapped his arms around her waist letting his head rest on her shoulder he saw it was Leyna. Rodney's eyes widened when the realization as to why she wasn't in her room and was instead wrapped in Ronon's bed sheets surfaced in perfect clarity. He groaned and looked away instantly.  
"I'm here Rodney." Leyna giggled.  
"Yes I'm quite aware of that." Rodney exclaimed still looking away.  
"We'll be there shortly."  
"Good." Rodney stammered embarrassed. He could feel his cheeks burning red, and turned with his head down and walked away. He could hear the couple laugh as the door shut.

Rodney thought about Ronon's face as he walked towards the gate room. It wasn't odd for Ronon to look relaxed, but Rodney had never seen him this happy before. Letting the initial shock fade away, relief set in as he went over what had just happened. Yesterday during the culling he was so glum, and he shot like a bat out of hell when the briefing was over last night. He thought that something had happened between Ronon and Leyna. But now he had found them together like that, he had no worries that they were back on track. Leyna and Ronon had been together for months now, and he was use to seeing them together. He was surprised at the distress he felt when he thought they had had a fight. It was like he feared they would break up and never get back together again like a little child witnessing their parents' divorce.

Leyna and Ronon had put him in good mood, and he smiled as he felt the need to find Jenifer before he left. Just to tell her how much he appreciated her.

* * *

Ronon and Leyna walked hand in hand to the gate room. She was on such a high. After last night, she didn't think that she was capable of enough energy for a mission as they hardly slept. In between their love making, they would talk about the mission and about what they were feeling. Leyna was surprised to see how much Ronon talked about his feelings. Even though they had been together for a while, he very rarely _talked_ about his emotions as much as he_ showed _them. When he opened up like that, it made Leyna feel so much closer to him.  
Leyna was also incredibly excited to go on the mission as she was on her way to see Magine. She had expressed last night how much she wanted Ronon to know Magine and now he could. She missed her brother so much and she secretly wished that he would be able to live on Atlantis with them. But she knew that it was a vain hope as Magine didn't like to live in one place for too long. But Leyna had changed so much, maybe just maybe he had too.

They geared up and as the stargate began to turn, she was getting jumpy. Ronon gripped her hand tighter as if to ground her, and she looked up to him and smiled so widely he couldn't help but smile back.  
"So is there a name for this planet?" Teyla asked Rodney who was busy pushing the touch screen of his computer.  
"M8T 697"  
"She meant an actual name Rodney." John said.  
"I know what she meant. There wasn't any name in the data base, so its name for now is M8T 697"  
John sighed and looked back to the star gate which was now open. It took all Leyna's strength not to run straight into it. She felt Ronon kiss her cheek as he led her forward stepping though.

_**M8T 697**_

After they stepped through, Leyna dropped Ronon's hand and walked over to an old and worn wall with markings.  
"It's Ancient" Rodney said in surprise.  
"It says welcome traders" Leyna answered in a daze. She walked away form the wall and to an open field with long grass and wild flowers.  
"You know what is says?" Rodney asked turning towards her  
"I've been here many time before. My brother and I would always come here for safety. We would hide in this forest many times when being chased. We know it in and out." She smiled.  
"Have you noticed that almost all the planets we go to have a forest nearby?" John mused making Leyna laugh.  
"What is this planet called?" Teyla asked ignoring John  
"Sierra"

Leyna sat down on some mossy stairs causing the others to look confused. Her vision changed from the beautiful Sierra to the dark abyss.  
"Ohh I hate it when she does this." Rodney groaned.  
"Shhh" Teyla said harshly  
"Well it is freaky Teyla." John agreed.  
Leyna felt a large warm had covered hers and smiled knowing Ronon was right beside her.  
"Magine?" she asked. She looked around for her brother.  
"Leyna!" She turned around and squealed with excitement.  
"Where are you?" she asked looking at his face. He hadn't changed a bit.  
"In the village Tavern"  
"We'll be right there!"  
"Leyna," Magine spoke, this time more carefully.  
"What the matter?" she asked worry spreading across her face.  
"Word spread that I was here, I've stayed too long. Hunters came through the ring about a hour before, they have not reached the village yet, but be careful.  
"Magine You should have left. I would have understood!" She scolded.  
He smiled and held his hand to her cheek, "I wanted to see my little sister."  
Her face softened as she reached her hand to his own cheek. "I'll be there soon as possible."

Magine nodded and disappeared as quickly as he came. Her vision changed from the dark abyss back to Sierra, her hand resting in mid air where it once held her brothers face.  
"Where is he?" John asked as Ronon helped Leyna up.  
"The village tavern. If you follow this path straight the forest," She pointed to a wide trail, "It will lead you directly there."  
"How do you know it is this path?" Teyla asked looking at the four others paths beside it.  
"I feel him." Lena said strongly. No one debated.  
"What's the danger?" Ronon asked, his eyebrow raised. She could tell he had listened carefully and had filled in the blanks.  
Sighing she picked up her gun and began walking along the trail, "Word spread he was here, hunters arrived an hour before hand. They are searching the forest."  
"Have they made it to the village?" John asked taking the lead scanning the forests.  
"No. This forest is quite large and thick. I you get off the trail, it is easy to get lost."  
John acknowledged and continued to scan the trees. Every one stayed close to her and she felt slightly claustrophobic. She didn't want to argue though, as it would cause more harm than good.

They made it thought the forest quickly and they walked through the village. It was packed with people, and Ronon grabbed her hand tightly as she weaved them through to the tavern. She stopped at the entrance to the tavern and suddenly felt nervous. Doubt suddenly began to play in her mind wondering if she was ready to see her brother again. Arms wrapped around her waist and she smiled and turned around wrapping her own arms around Ronon's neck.  
"You ready for this?" he asked, looking unsure towards the tavern.  
"As long you stay close to me" She smiled kissing him softly.  
"So your ready then." Ronon dismissed strongly.  
Releasing his grip on her, she opened the door. Her body began to automatically pull through the tavern and her eyes caught sight of a hooded man sitting at a table near the window. The man took off his hood, and smiled.

_**To be continued.**_


	11. Family Reunion

Chapter 11: Family Reunion

Magine sat in the corner furthest away from the front door and closest to an exit. He looked out the window, searching for Leyna or any signs of the hunters. He felt guilty staying. He didn't want any harm to come to the people of this village. They were always so hospitable and he did not want to put Leyna in any more danger. His thoughts drifted to the last time he had seen her. They had come to this very planet to fend off hunters that were chasing him. They had both used their abilities which was like broadcasting a signal saying _'We are here'._ When they reached Sierra, they split into the forest and planned to meet up in the tavern, just like always. When they eventually met up, Magine saw that she was bruised and had small cuts all over her face. Pain washed over him and as he watched Leyna's battered face turn sour and he knew that she was sensing his pain and regret. It was then that he made the decision to ensure both of their survivals. It was then four years ago, where they had said their incredibly emotional goodbye.

During the time on his own, he had learned so much. He constantly worried about Leyna and worried whenever he felt a stab of pain. It was like he was the one who had been punched or sliced, which annoyed him because he knew that Leyna had probably sought out the fight. It frightened him how much she was constantly in danger and getting hurt and would always wonder if he made the right decision. Before they separated, they decided to look for other surviving Andorrans with 'gifts'. He though they needed to know just how many of them were left. The past few months he had been on Andorra gathering information. It pained him to ignore Leyna's attempts to contact him, especially when each time her voice became more panicked. But he couldn't risk it knowing the hunters could track him.

He suddenly felt her familiar presence and knew she had arrived.  
"Magine?" He heard her voice and turned further into the corner. He made sure his hood was covering his face and watched as his vision turned from a busy crowd to a dark abyss with only a woman standing with her back to him.  
"Leyna!" She turned around and squealed with excitement, making Magine smile.  
"Where are you?".  
"In the village Tavern"  
"We'll be right there!"  
"Leyna," Magine spoke, he had to warm her.  
"What's the matter?" she asked worry spreading across her face.  
"Word spread that I was here, I've stayed too long. Hunters came through the ring about a hour before, they have not reached the village yet, but be careful.  
"Magine you should have left. I would have understood!" She scolded.  
He smiled and held his hand to her cheek, "I wanted to see my little sister."  
Her face softened as she reached her hand to his own cheek. "I'll be there soon as possible."  
Magine nodded and his vision changed back to the village. His eyes continued to scan for hunters.

After what seemed like forever, Leyna's presence felt incredibly close. His eyes scanned the people through the stain glass window until he saw her. Sitting up in his chair, he took in her appearance. Her face was still the same; her eyes still the beautiful ocean blue of her mothers. Her hair was still wavy but a lot longer than he remembered. What startled him the most were her clothes. She wore a black uniform that had some sort of vest for protection and a gun hanging off of the front. He noticed three other people wearing the same thing.  
As she got closer to the tavern, he noticed a man behind her following incredibly close. The man's eyes were suspicious and he towered over Leyna. He was big and muscular and had long dark dreadlocks. As he watched Leyna stop in front of the tavern door, he watched as the man wrapped his arms around his sister. His first instinct was to march right out there and kill him, but it wasn't the man's large and intimidating frame that stopped him. What stopped him was that Leyna smiled and turned to embrace the man. He watched as they mouthed something he couldn't quite lip read and then gasped as Leyna reached up and kissed him.  
Obviously things had changed since they last spoke. As the group entered the tavern, he felt eyes gaze upon him.  
He removed his hood and smiled at his little sister.

* * *

"Magine!"  
Leyna ran into her bothers arms and felt a tear escape her eye. Her heart melted as she felt her bother laugh within their embrace.  
"Careful Lenny, your choking me" she heard Magine struggle. She instantly released her grip around his neck.  
"Lenny?" she herd John ask behind her, "As in Lenny Kravatz?"  
She turned to see a confused John and a smirking McKay who was trying to deflect fits of laughter.  
"Lenny is what my mother and father use to call me when i was a little girl." She replied confused. "Who is Lenny Kravatz?"  
"Sorry. Bad joke." John waved off.  
Leyna was confused but took John's advice and let it go.  
"Magine, these are my close friends of Atlantis. Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, and this," Leyna took a deep breath in, "is Ronon Dex."  
She watched as each person waved as their names were mentioned.  
"This is my brother Magine."  
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you." John smiled.  
"And you." Her brother replied. "I wish to thank you for keeping my sister safe. It means the world to me that she is well."

For the rest of the evening, Leyna and Magine told the rest of the team about stories of their childhood. Leyna burst with satisfaction that they all got along; although she worried at how quiet she noticed Ronon had been. When she would look at him, he would smile, then look away and when she was listening to one of Magine's stories she noticed him watching her intently.  
One by one, the Atlanians left for bed. Magine had booked rooms for everyone and even Leyna herself was feeling tired. Eventually only Ronon, Magine and herself were left.  
"I think I better call it a night." Ronon said. Leyna felt a dabber of disappointment as Ronon got up to leave. She watched as he eyed her, then Magine and back at herself before bending over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.  
"Goodnight," he said and offered his hand to Magine, who shook it politely. "It was a pleasure meeting you."  
"You as well" Magine smiled. She watched with sadness as his retreating figure disappeared up the stairs.  
"Why are you upset?" Magine asked, taking her hand. He must have sensed her distress.  
"No reason." She smiled hoping he would let it go. She knew he did not buy it, but was thankful when he changed the subject.

* * *

Ronon winced as he straightened his back outside of the tavern with John and Teyla. His stiff back was annoying him and he wished nothing more than to be back in Atlantis.  
"Did you not sleep well Ronon?" Teyla's asked concerned.  
"No. Stupid bed." He replied gruffly.  
"Can't sleep without your teddy bear?" John smirked  
"Shut up." Ronon groaned. In truthfulness John was right. The bed was fine, is was the fact that for months now he had gotten use to holding a beautiful creature in his arms and listened as her steady breathing soothed him to sleep. Instead, last night he had the loud snoring of Rodney and a small cold bed. He lay awake for hours listening intently and sometimes he would hear her laugh. He wanted so much to be with her, but knew that right now she needed to be with her brother. Eventually, he fell into a light slumber.

"Her brother eats more than you do!" Rodney said in disbelief at Ronon. He chuckled and looked through the window to see Leyna and her brother still eating their breakfast. His eyes rested on Leyna, she looked so happy.  
"They look remarkably alike." Teyla commented talking a place next to Ronon. He grunted in agreement. He looked over to Magine and compared his short dirty blonde hair to Leyna's. Their eyes, were probably their most different feature. Magine's were a grey blue while Leyna's were a beautiful deep ocean.  
"No kidding." John scoffed, "They're practically twins."  
"Magine is five years older" Rodney commented, taking out his computer.

Ronon began to play with his sword getting various looks from villagers.  
"Stop showing off" John groaned.  
"Your just jealous" Ronon smiled as the blade spun in the air.  
He almost dropped it when a voice spoke from nowhere.  
"You are very skilled."  
The whole team jumped as Magine was suddenly standing in front of them.  
"Where the hell did you come from!" Rodney breathed clutching his chest.  
Realization spread across Magine's face. "I am terribly sorry. I did not mean to do it. It's just I am so use to being chased I do it naturally now."  
"Do what?" Ronon asked suspiciously. If there was one thing he didn't like, it was being taken by surprise.  
"I cut off your senses. Made you unaware of my presence."  
"This is your ability?" Teyla asked  
"Yes, I see Leyna has told you about us."  
Teyla nodded before turning to take a seat.  
"I promise you i will not use it against you."  
"Well that's reassuring." Rodney said sarcastically.  
"Rodney" John warned.  
"Where is Leyna?" Ronon asked Magine  
"In our room, packing her bag."  
Ronon grunted a small thanks before entering the tavern to find her.

When he got to her room, he smiled as he watched her packing her bag humming a light tune. It was familiar and noticed she would frequently hum it when they were together.  
"I missed you." He said startling her. She grinned widely before jumping into his arms.  
"I missed you to." She whispered.  
Ronon placed her on her feet and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss he had been longing for. Leyna deepened it by applying a great force that was causing Ronon to run out of breath. He reluctantly pulled away resting his forehead on hers.  
"Is it foolish to be jealous of your brother?" he asked feeling a little stupid  
Leyna lifted her head and laughed, "What ever for?"  
"I was not able to touch you for more than a moment last night. You were always in his arms and not mine."  
He stared into her eyes hoping she understood and thankfully he knew she did.  
"I know what you mean." She replied gently, her voice calming his body.  
Ronon was aware of another presence around the corner, but they made no action to be noticed. He knew who it was and a feeling of possession swept over him. He gabbed Leyna's waist and kissed her passionately, his body buzzing with excitement as Leyna kissed equally as passionate back.

She pulled away this time and laughed.  
"You just wait till we're back on Atlantis." She grinned mischievously.  
Ronon laughed in return and grabbed Leyna's bag, following her down the stairs. When they exited the tavern, John motioned for them to head back for the gate. The incredulous look from Magine did not go unnoticed.

* * *

Leyna could not wait till she got back to Atlantis. She felt a little guilty that this desire was not due to having her brother see her new home. While she was over the moon that she was finally with her brother and they had shared every detail they could last night about each other, she skilfully neglected to mention her relationship with Ronon. She knew that her brother sensed how Ronon made her feel and she knew that Magine knew something was going on, she wished to keep it a secret. Ever since they were little, Leyna got the impression that Magine was against relationships. She knew why he felt this way, as it was what got their parents killed. He heart pained at the memory of her parents. Their faces a distant and foggy memory. She had told Ronon that her both parents had died from the wraith, nothing more. What she failed to mention was that her mother was fed upon before the eyes of her father, which caused him to go fight them in blind hatred. He was heavily outnumbered and then fed upon himself.

She was scared that Magine would not approve and that he would ask Leyna to leave with him. Leyna thought about this and knew that she would never willingly leave Ronon, even if it meant causing a rift between her and her brother. She silently hoped that if Magine never knew, that moment would never come. The group walked silently in the forest along the wide pathway towards the gate. Leyna froze as her body was washed over by a distant coldness. Ronon was beside her in an instant.  
"What is it?" He asked, switching his gun from stun to blast.  
"Metal."  
"What do you mean metal?" Rodney asked rudely, "knifes, swords, ships, technology what?"  
" Knifes, swords, and something else. I don't know it is unfamiliar."  
"Where?" Ronon asked already walking with his gun aimed.  
"In the forest, off the path. Probably about a mile that way." Leyna pointed uneasy.  
"You can tell all that by just a feeling?" McKay said in astonishment  
"Amazing isn't she?" Magine smiled, taking his own weapon out.

"Ronon? Magine? You're with me." John said and the two men nodded walking over the hill, "Teyla look after McKay....and Leyna."  
Teyla nodded and guided them off the path and a little into the forest. Turning to Leyna she asked concerned,  
"Are you alright?"  
"I am fine. It is just....unsettling." She smiled.  
"I understand."  
"How?" Leyna asked, wanting to be distracted.  
"Well you know I can sense the wraith yes?" She asked as Leyna nodded, "Well I begin to feel a cold sense-"  
"Move!" Leyna yelled as she pushed Teyla out of the way. A knife hit the tree inches from Teyla. Leyna began to panic as she sensed numerous knifes being thrown in their direction. She stood up and raised her hands.  
"Leyna what are you doing?!" Teyla shouted in distress. Rodney screamed for Leyna to find cover.  
Leyna closed her eyes and focused on all the knifes. Her fists were balled up and when she opened her hands she felt energy leave her body. She opened her eyes to find knifes left right and centre frozen in mid air.  
"Are you alright?" she called to Teyla and Rodney.  
"We are fine" Teyla breathed in shock.  
"Speak for yourself!" Rodney panted as his wide eyes stared at a knife frozen inches from his face.  
"She's the one that controls metal!" a man's voice randomly shouted.  
She knew that she had encountered them before and turned to Teyla and Rodney.  
"You must go!" She said pulling them behind a large tree.  
"We are not leaving you!" Teyla cried, her large brown eyes filled with fear  
"You must, you will not get hurt because of me!"

A white hot pain shot through her shoulder as she was pinned against the tree.  
"Oh god not arrows! I hate arrows!" Rodney shouted diving behind a log. She heard Teyla gasp and take cover as Leyna looked down to see a wooden arrow sticking out.  
"Leyna get down!" Rodney cried.  
"I can't I'm pinned to the tree!" Leyna cried,  
More arrows filled the air narrowly missing her. Teyla stood in front of her, sweat beginning to bead up on her face.  
"We are going to get you out of here!"  
Leyna caught sight of an arrow heading straight for Teyla and Leyna used her good arm to push her out the way. She screamed as another white hot pain stabbed her side. Teyla regained her bearings and gasped again as she took in Leyna's position. Leyna knew that as long as she was pinned to the tree, she was a sitting duck.  
"Leave now!" Leyna gasped.  
She sighed as she saw Teyla's determined and stubborn face turn on her an began to shoot back. Leyna screamed as yet another arrow entered her body and a new coldness began to take over her.  
Leyna's heart cried as bright red blasts surrounded her, killing the hunters closest to her. Her vision became blurry and a tear slid down her face as she listened to Ronon's screams become broken.

The last thing she wanted was for her heart to fail in front of the one man she wished to live forever with.

**_To be Continued..._**


	12. A Pained Heart

Chapter 12: A Pained Heart

_**Why does my heart go on beating?  
Why do these eyes of mine cry?  
Don't they know it's the end of the world  
It ended when you said goodbye.**_

_**Skeeter Davis, The End of the World**_

"Ronon? Magine? You're with me" John said to Ronon. He nodded and began to walk up the hill, vaguely aware of Magine behind him.  
"So how long have you been with my sister?" Magine asked, causing Ronon to whip his head around  
"Four months." Ronon replied, continuing to search the forest.  
"She cares for you deeply." He continued.  
This was the last place he wanted to have this conversation. In fact he didn't want to have this conversation at all.  
"I know."  
"Do you?" Ronon stopped and looked at Magine annoyed.  
"Do I what?"  
"Return those affections as deeply?"  
Ronon fighted an urge to shoot him with his gun. How dare he question his feeling for Leyna. He walked up to her brother and stopped inches from his face, his eyes narrow and angry.  
"More than my own life"  
"Good." Magine smiled.  
Ronon turned and continued scanning the Forrest. He decided to branch off so that Magine couldn't ask him more questions but little did Magine know, Ronon still wasn't out of hearing range.

"What is Ronon really like?" He herd Magine ask John.  
"Excuse me?" John asked dumbfounded  
"I mean he acts all tough, and i can tell he is very skilled in fighting, yet i have seen him with my sister, and it does not seem to fit."  
Ronon laughed at Magine's explanation and waited for John's reply.  
"Ronon use to be a runner, he became dependant on himself and himself only. He lost his world, his family during his planets last culling. When we found him he was a big ball of anger, but eventually he began to fizzle and be normal." John explained awkwardly, "When Leyna came into the scene, she was like a female version of him. She challenged him."  
Magine nodded in understanding.  
"Ronon is family to me, and as far as I'm concerned so is Leyna. For as long as I've known Ronon, I have never seen him as happy as when he is with her. She has changed him."  
"I understand" Magine said, his gaze shifting to Ronon. Ronon was momentarily distracted by the meaning and thought that John put into those words. Ronon could tell he wasn't lying, and he could tell it was hard for John to say that out loud. He made a mental note to thank him somehow.

Ronon realised they were at the gate, and his stomach began to churn. They had not seen any hunters on their way. He noticed John crinkle his face in confusion and turn around to survey the forest, than the gate again.  
"Something tells me this isn't good." He said looking at Ronon.  
Ronon looked at Magine who's face suddenly turned white.  
"What's wrong?" Ronon asked worried that he was ill.  
"It's Leyna..." Ronon stiffened, "She's scared"  
"About what?" Ronon asked stepping closer.  
"I don't know" he confessed.  
Magine suddenly yelled as he fell backward. Ronon barley caught him before he hit the ground.  
"What the hell is happening?" John demanded, crouching to Magine's other side.  
It was like he had been hit by a gun, but as Ronon checked him over, he saw no blood. Realization set in as Magine grabbed his arms and spoke one word that confirmed his fears.  
"Leyna."

That was all it took to send Ronon flying off through the Forrest. He felt John and Magine on his trail behind him, but Ronon did not care about them as he ran for his life to find Leyna. He heard her scream which rippled through his body causing his legs to buckle. Getting up as quickly as he fell, he charged his gun and ran over the hill. He was shocked to find just how many men he had missed and began shooting at every man in sight. He knew she was right there, but Ronon refused to look at her. Hearing her sob quietly he screamed at the men approaching her, his voice breaking. Gun fire began to aid him as John ran over the hill with Magine dragging himself close behind. Ronon made his way over to Teyla and McKay shooting from behind a fallen tree.  
"What happened?" He demanded, McKay reluctantly answered.  
"They came out of nowhere," He stammered, "First they threw heaps of knifes, but she stopped them. They seemed to know about her ability 'cuz next thing we know _wooden_ arrows started flying everywhere."  
Ronon nodded fully aware that she was right behind him.  
"How bad is she?" he said quietly. Hearing this question, Teyla stopped firing for a moment, and then regained her composure before taking aim again. He looked to McKay who had his head down.  
"Pretty bad" was his reply which fused Ronon's eyes shut. Behind the cover of the fallen tree, he slowly turned around. Never had he been this scared to open his eyes before.  
Slowly he began to open them.

Even if he hadn't known her, it still would have shocked him. She stood weakly against the tree, her head down from exhaustion, with strands of hair stuck to her face. An arrow protruded out of her shoulder, as well as her leg and her side underneath her ribs. Her skin was deathly pale. Ronon sat there in shock as he remembered he did know her. It was _Leyna_ that stood pinned against the tree, _his Leyna_. Tears welled in his eyes as he stood and walked his way over to her. He didn't care about the battle still taking place. Not anymore. His wobbly knees stopped as he saw the dark wet patches of blood soak her uniform at each puncture wound. He gently cupped her face and she opened her eyes weakly.  
"Ronon" She breathed.  
A sob escaped his mouth as she said his name, making it all the more true that it was really her. The tears spilled over, as he wiped the hair out of her face.  
"No" was all he could say in disbelief . _No,_ over and over again.  
"Ronon?" John's voice somehow reached him as his body let its self cry.  
"Keller is on her way with a med team. She's gonna be okay."  
Ronon looked to John who gasped as he realised Ronon was crying. Ronon hadn't even registered that the battle was over, but nodded and turned back to Leyna.

"I feel cold." She breathed. Another sob escaped his lips. Just then her legs gave way and her screamed pierced his heart as the only thing keeping her up was the arrows. Ronon grabbed her waist like lightning and held her up, taking the pressure off of her wounds.

* * *

A tear slid down Teyla's cheek as she watched the toughest man she had ever known brake down in front of them. John was visibly in distress as well but he helped Ronon hold Leyna up. She looked over to Rodney, his face was full of pain. She wondered what her face looked like, as she let the events sink in. She couldn't help but feel guilty. Leyna had saved _her_ life, and had gotten hurt in the process. Fear took over the shock as she watched Leyna's face become more and more pale. She prayed to the ancestors that Dr. Keller would come soon.

* * *

Rodney felt like crying but held it together, as the sight before him made him physically sick. He had never known so much fear than when he heard 'Ronon the warrior' sob and cry. He thought that he would have loved to see Ronon cry like a baby, but this is _definitely not_ how he wanted it to happen.  
_Where was Jenifer?_ His mind screamed.  
Leyna looked horrible, and the memory replayed like a movie in his head. One arrow, two arrow, three, and Rodney had just watched it happen like she was a gladiator in the ring. Rodney bagn to curse at himself, thinking and wishing he could have done more to help her. He never really believed in religion, but right at that moment he prayed to God that she would be okay.

* * *

When Ronon turned to John with a tear streaked face, John didn't know what to do. When Leyna cried as her legs gave away, he regretting helping Ronon hold her up. He wanted to get away from it. Pretend it never happened. He couldn't stand the pain he could feel come off of everyone as well as his own. For the first time in a long time, he was scared. For the first time in a long time, John Sheppard wanted to run away.

* * *

Magine sat there gasping for breath as he could feel the life leave his sister. His heart pumped faster and his adrenaline was overdosing him as the realization was hitting him at full force. His sister was dying and there was nothing he could do about it. The pain made his lungs fail to take deep breaths, made him gasp in shock.  
"Can you take her pain away?" He heard Ronon's strangled and pain thickened voice speak.  
"I can try." Magine responded. He didn't want to take all of her pain away as she may be tempted to give up, and Magine was _not_ about to let that happen. He knew she never could resist temptation. He gently cut off a little of her physical senses, instantly seeing her relax slightly.  
He looked to Ronon who was staring into Leyna's eyes, his hands covered in Leyna's blood. Magine did the same thing to Ronon and Ronon shifted his gaze towards him and nodded.  
"Thank you" He said curtly.  
Magine nodded in response. It was the least he could do for his sister's lover.

* * *

Leyna felt so weak.  
She felt the desire to close her eyes and be done with it. Her pain had lessened and this frightened her a little, but it also comforted her. She knew it was the work of her brother.  
"I'm here!" she heard a distant females voice shout. "I'm here where is she?!" The womans voice echoed in her head.  
"Dr. Keller! We are here!" another womans's voice shouted  
"Oh my god Leyna!" the first voice struggled to say.  
"Don't leave me" A man's voice whispered in her ear. His voiced seemed broken and pained. She felt herself slipping away.  
"Don't you dare leave me!" He shouted again as she felt the voice slip away in to the darkness.

_**To be continued  
Please Reveiw!!!!**_


	13. When a pained heart is broken

Chapter 13: When a pained heart is broken

"Don't you dare leave me!" Ronon shouted at Leyna. He felt her body relax more than his liking. Anger rose within him as she no longer opened her eyes nor responded to him. Hot tears burned his cheeks as he let the med team take over holding Leyna up. Dr Keller began to cut the end off of the arrows.  
_How could I have missed them all? _Ronon thought in his head. There were so many men. He shouldn't have missed them.  
Rage bottled up inside him as he searched each hunter one by one. He noticed they all wore a funny bracelet.  
"McKay!" He shouted angrily, McKay instantly stepped to his side, "Find out what these do." Chucking a bracelet towards Rodney.  
"Sure thing." Rodney stammered.  
"Okay guys," Dr. Keller turned around speaking to the team, "I'm about to take her off. There will be a lot of blood. I suggest you guys go somewhere else."  
Ronon noticed she directed most of her words at him; but John, Teyla and Rodney were the ones to leave.  
"Ronon." Keller said softly.  
"I'm staying." He dismissed her and planted himself on a tree stump next to Magine.

"How are you doing?" Ronon asked him.  
"Fine." Magine croaked.  
"Are you in pain?"  
"Yes. A lot." He winced as Dr. Keller slowly pulled Leyna from the tree.  
"Good." Ronon grunted, receiving a death stare from Magine, "As long as you can feel her pain, she's still alive." He explained.  
Magine instantly understood.  
He turned his head back to Leyna as they placed her on a stretcher. Blood poured out of her wounds as Keller struggled to tend to all of them.  
"Okay let's get her back to Atlantis asap!" Keller shouted.

Ronon was by Leyna's side in a heartbeat, grabbing one end of the stretcher. As they jogged her back to the gate, he noticed she had opened her eyes.  
"Keller." Ronon ushered.  
Jenifer look from Ronon to Leyna and gasped slightly at Leyna's open eyes.  
"Leyna can you hear me?" a slight nod.  
"Where taking you back to Atlantis. Stay with us okay?"  
Ronon's mind shouted for his legs to go faster as Leyna's eyes shut again.

* * *

Leyna felt groggy.  
Her memory was lucid and when she tried to move it hurt like hell. A groan escaped her lips as she attempted to shift.  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A deep husky voice said beside her. Her heart fluttered.  
"Ronon?" she murmured opening her eyes.  
"I'm here."  
She looked at his face and was shocked at the sight of him. His usually beautiful green eyes were dark and baggy. He looked like he hadn't slept in ages.  
"What happened?" she asked.  
She listened intently as Ronon explained what happened. Bits of memory became sharper.  
"How long have I been here?" she wondered  
"You've were unconscious for three weeks. You began to wake up three days ago. You've been in and out."  
As she looked at his face, she ached for his touch. Moving her hand slightly she reached for his hand. She didn't get far as her shoulder seared with pain. Ronon chuckled once and his hand found hers,  
"Easy" he smiled.  
He leaned forward, and rested his head next to hers. Leyna breathed in his scent and let the feel of home settle in her once more.  
"I thought I lost you." His voice cracked as he spoke.  
"You'll never lose me." She whispered, and turned her head and kissed him gently.  
She felt him quiver beneath her lips and his hand grabbed her head. It was like he was afraid that she would disappear right then and there.  
"Go get some sleep." She said pulling away, "You look horrible."  
Ronon laughed and stood up, "Fine, but I'll be back soon." Before giving her another kiss and leaving the infirmary.

* * *

Ronon could not sleep. He was in a better mood but he still could not sleep. When they first came back to Atlantis, he stayed and watched her four hour surgery. He then stayed with her throughout her intensive care. One night, he went to his own bed (orders of Jenifer) but he felt uneasy and restless. He found himself back in the Infirmary that same night.  
He became a part of the Infirmary's furniture with John, Teyla and Rodney bringing him food and visiting Leyna. Ronon gave them privacy sometimes but never strayed far. Magine came constantly too.  
When she started to wake up, she spoke complete nonsense. He enjoyed listening to her babble on in a different language because hearing her voice did funny things to his body. Although he had no idea what she was saying, her voice gave him comfort and kept him company.  
Magine had been there one night, when she was babbling. Ronon heard her say his name in the middle of a sentence sparking his curiosity and looked for Magine to help him. Ronon could tell he understood what she was saying which made Ronon think it was Andorran native tongue. He watched as Magine's face went from amused to shocked and stormed out of the infirmary. Ronon thought it was weird, but as Leyna said his name again, his thoughts became consumed with her once more.

A knock on his door made Ronon jump a little. His eyes became surprised as he opened the door to find Magine standing there.  
"May I come in?" he asked Ronon. Nodding, Magine walked into his quarters.  
As he looked around, he cursed under his breath as he saw Magine notice clothes and bracelets belonging to Leyna scattered all over the room.  
"I wish to talk to you about my sister" Magine stated abruptly  
"What about her?" Ronon said defensively. He didn't like were this was going.  
"When she heals, I want her to come back on the road with me. It was my hope back on Sierra that she would, but due to obvious reasons, I have not been able to ask her."  
On the outside Ronon remained calm, but on the inside he was screaming, yelling and abusing Magine in every tongue he knew. This man wanted to take Leyna away from him. He felt his heart slightly crack.  
"No." He said strongly.  
"I can see that you object, but tell me. If you had a sister, that had just been close to death, would you not take her away from the place that was hurting her?"  
"You think that we are the ones hurting her!" Ronon yelled in disbelief.  
"She was fine before this place began to break her. I feel it!" Magine said with equal anger.  
Ronon remained silent.  
"I know this will hurt you, but please, don't take her away from the only family she has left. You'll do more harm than good." With that Magine left Ronon alone.  
He wished nothing more than to rip Magine's head off and then sew it back on, just so it was able to be ripped off again.

* * *

Leyna was incredibly worried. It had been a week since Ronon left her in the infirmary. He said he would be back soon. But surely a week wasn't soon.  
Everyone else visited her but him.  
When he finally came through the infirmary doors, her worries were not put to rest as his expression was glum and brooding. An uneasy feeling rested within her stomach.  
"So," Leyna breathed in a fake upbeat fashion, maybe she could lift his mood, "I can get out of here tomorrow, and I'll be ready for active duty next week!" She smiled. He was still yet to look her in the eyes.  
"Leyna." He began. Immediately she shut her eyes. She was not going to let this go where she knew it was going.  
"It's not your fault. Stop sulking around." She brooded.  
"You need to go with you brother."  
"What?" she asked shocked, sitting up in her bed  
"You can't stay here."  
Anger rose within her, "Why the hell not? This is my home just as much as it is yours."  
"You need to be with your family."  
"This is my family,"  
"Your _real _family!" his voice breaking.  
She suddenly realised were this was coming from.  
"What did he say to you?" she asked outraged,  
"Leave him out of this."  
"Well then why are you saying this?"  
"I'm doing what is best for you." He quietly murmured  
"You don't even know what's best for yourself." She scoffed. His eyes flickered to hers and she saw anger then hurt flash past. She regretted her words instantly.  
"Maybe so. But you are going with your brother." He said leaving the room.  
Leyna had never felt more alone than in that moment.

* * *

Ronon stood on the balcony in the control room, watching as John, Teyla, Sam and Rodney said their goodbyes to Leyna. He watched her as she carefully avoided his gaze and Ronon was thankful. He knew the moment she looked at him he would jump off the balcony and chain her to the wall. It killed him to let her go. He thought that the pain in his heart would murder him in his sleep.  
The star gate opened. With it, his last chance to take it all back and he was walking down the stairs before he realised. Ronon saw Magine stare at him fiercely and Ronon halted at the foot of the stairs, remembering why he was letting her go in the first place.  
Leyna looked at him, her face hard and angry. She turned abruptly and walked through the gate, he breathed in the scent she left behind, letting it work its way into his memory.

"I hope you know what you doing." Rodney rudely remarked walking past Ronon.  
"Excuse me?" He said angry at his tone.  
"You can't let yourself be happy can you?" Rodney turned around  
"Leave it Rodney." John warned,  
"No, he needs to hear this." McKay shushed John. Ronon crossed his arms in waiting, "She was the best thing that has happened to you in years, and when one thing goes wrong you just send her packing! You're not the only person she means a lot to you know. She's much our family as she _was _yours!" Rodney shouted, his facing turning red with anger. He stormed off towards his lab leaving Ronon dumbfounded.  
"We don't blame you buddy." John said after while, Teyla agreeing in the background.  
"You should." Ronon replied, before walking back up the stairs.

* * *

John watched as Ronon swung his sword ferociously at the jungle. He was getting tired of Ronon's angry behaviour and wondered if he should just go out and find Leyna himself. It had been two weeks since she left and John still felt like it was yesterday. His team was empty, Ronon _looked _empty, and honestly John felt a little empty. His team was missing a member, and he wanted them back.

Rodney was silently working on his computer, and Teyla was helping Ronon clear a path in the thick jungle.  
"I can't find the energy source. It just disappeared." Rodney's surprised voice entered his head.  
"What do you mean it just disappeared?" John barked.  
"It just came out of thin air, then disappeared just as quick"  
"Well find it!" John demanded, turning away from Rodney, "We didn't come all the way out here for nothing"  
"I can't find it if I don't know what I'm-" Rodney cut off mid sentence, causing everybody to stop and look.  
"What is it?" Teyla asked.  
"The energy reading. I ran a diagnostic in case I'd come across it before. It's almost identical to-"  
Again Rodney stopped mid sentence and looked at Ronon, afraid to finish his sentence.  
"To what?" Ronon demanded walking up to McKay.  
"To Leyna's"  
"Are you sure?" John asked looking at Rodney's computer but not understanding any of it.  
"You're verbally doubting me again." He complained.  
"So?" John asked, he always doubted Rodney  
"So when you doubt me out loud, I doubt myself. Keep it in your head!"  
"Where is it coming from." Ronon interrupted  
"If I knew that, would I be sitting here?" Rodney exclaimed.

Ronon growled in frustration.  
"Magine!" he shouted  
"Leyna?" he shouted even louder.  
He was met with silence.  
"I've got another reading!" Rodney gasped jumping up and running in a random direction. John impatiently followed.  
"It's somewhere around here." Rodney looked.  
"Colonel!" he herd Teyla shout. Everyone came running and John stared at Magine lying on the ground battered.  
"Where is Leyna?" Ronon demanded grabbing Magine by the collar  
"She's not here." He said weakly, before collapsing again.  
"Alright, let's get him back to the jumper, _before _Ronon kills him." John ordered, leading the team back the way they came.

* * *

Ronon sat in the puddle jumper staring at Magine. He was severely dehydrated and was covered in bruises. His split lip had dried and he was beginning to regain consciousness.  
"Ronon, don't ambush him" Teyla said calmly placing a hand on his arm.  
He look at Teyla disapprovingly, but did was she asked.  
Taking him to the infirmary, they waited for what seemed like forever until they were allowed to see him. Ronon barged into the room,  
"Where's Leyna!" he demanded, having to be restrained by John and Teyla.  
"She was captured." Magine said weakly  
"You said she'd be safe with you!" He screamed, "What did you do?!"  
"Calm down chewie." John struggled, "Let's get him out of here" he motioned for Teyla.  
"It wasn't my fault." He heard Magine call, before being shut out of the infirmary.

If his heart was cracked before, Ronon thought, it was now completely shattered.

_**To be Continued**_


	14. Potentialy Problematic

Chapter 14: Potentially Problematic.

Ronon paced his room back and forth for what seemed like a day. He had been confined and locked in his quarters because he had tried to harm Magine three times since they had found him. To his credit, Ronon had skilfully broken into the infirmary to try and question him but John knew Ronon like a book and was already waiting. This resulted in Ronon having to be locked in his room like a child. He didn't understand why he was not allowed to question Magine. Sure he would get aggressive, maybe even physically harm him a bit. But it would get the information he so desperately needed much quicker than simply _waiting_ for him to recover.

He collapsed on his bed and took a deep breath in. The smell of wood, jasmine and the ocean filled his nostrils and his heart ached. He reached under his bed and took out a small wooden box. Opening it, he took out a pearl necklace and memories flooded his mind of the night he and Leyna first got together. His mind drifted to their first kiss, their second and their third. The first time they made love as well as many, many times after that. He closed his eyes and let himself remember her face, her voice and her touch but all he felt was a throbbing chest that weighed a ton.

He regretted his decision the minute he made it. He should never have let her go. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself. He was going to get her back. One way or another.  
Just then his door slid open. Sitting up, he saw John half smiling in the hallway.  
"Thought you might want to be there when we question him."  
Ronon followed John to the briefing room.

* * *

Magine had never been so scared of another person in his life. He was perfectly contempt until Ronon walked through the doors. Then he was just plain scared. The look Ronon gave him was enough to make him want to cry, not to mention cringe at all the times he already tried to harm him since he had arrived. But as Magine thought of the reason behind Ronon outrageous anger the more he understood it, even encouraged it. He was stupid and selfish. It was his fault Leyna had been captured.  
"Start at the beginning." Sam motioned.  
"And don't leave _any _details out." Ronon growled

**FLASH BACK**  
The moment he and Leyna stepped through the gate, it was their old routine. Find leads and follow them, no matter how small they were. They also occasionally went back to Andorra for inside information.  
One week ago, they were surveying a family when they came under fire. It turned out, this lead had been planted by a betraying source and they were lead into a trap. They fought and managed to make their way to the gate. Magine dialled Sierra and as was usual procedure, they would run into the thick forest and hide. However when they went through, more hunters were on the other side, ready and waiting.

**END OF FLASH BACK**

"What happened next?" Sam asked, as Magine struggled to speak.  
"We were bound and taken to our home world, but before we got to the village, Leyna had managed to untie our bounds. We attacked the four hunters guarding us and pretty soon we were once again running in the forest. We found a hunters trap in the ground, which Leyna uncovered. Before I knew it she pushed me in and covered it back up again."  
"Why didn't she get in with you?" John intervened  
"There was only room for one."  
"What happened to her?" Ronon growled again.  
"From what I heard they stunned her and rebound her. When i eventually managed to climb out, I no longer felt her on the planet."  
"Do you know what's going to happen to her?" McKay asked hesitantly  
"From what we had gathered, the hunters take people like us prisoner. Because it is so rare to find us nowadays, we are put into the market."  
"What market?" Teyla queried  
"The slave market."

**_Andorra_**

As the team flew through the gate, memories filled Ronon's head of the last time they were here. He smiled at the first time he had seen Leyna running though the woods. A grin on her face and hunters on her tail.  
"I am unable to go into the village with youas I will be recognised." Magine interjected his thoughts  
"How the hell are we suppose to pull this off then?" McKay whined  
"We have an old family friend still loyal."  
"Maria" Ronon answered.  
"Yes." Magine looked surprised, "We can make camp in a cave in the forest, it is well sheltered and near a waterfall. Been abandoned for generations. I will go talk to Maria, and we will see if she can help us."  
"What if she doesn't?" John asked sceptically  
"Then I'm afraid it will be up to you."  
Ronon didn't mind that plan. He imagined walking through the village killing every hunter in sight. But as John had mentioned earlier, blasting their way through was plan D.

They set up camp in the cave, and Magine set off to find Maria. Ronon didn't like him going off alone, as he felt somewhat responsible for Magine too. If Magine died on his watch, Leyna would never forgive him.  
Night came and Ronon began getting impatient. The fire they managed to make was small and not enough to warm everyone. Leaves rustling in the distance entered Ronon's ears and he charged his gun and went outside.  
"What is it?" John came up beside him, his own weapon aimed.  
"Someone is coming."  
"Relax it is only us." Ronon hurled around to find Magine and a strange woman already in the cave.  
"How did you do that?" John asked.  
"I cut off your senses, made you virtually blind and deaf until we were passed your gun point. This is Maria" He gestured to the woman next to him. She smiled but looked hesitant. The woman walked up to Ronon, and surveyed his appearance.  
"This is he?" she asked Magine  
"Indeed." He sighed.  
Ronon made a mental note to ask about it later.  
"She has agreed to help you to a certain degree." Magine nodded  
"What degree?" Ronon asked  
"I will aid you in getting into the markets" Maria's velvet voice filled the cave, "and give you any information I possess, but as much as I regrettably announce. I cannot help you free Leyna."  
"Why not?" Ronon said annoyed, his plan sounding better by the minute.  
"If you are captured, you will merely be put in cell, most likely with Leyna and as she has told me, you are more than capable of freeing yourselves" She said eyeing their weapons,  
" However if I am caught aiding you, I along with my family face the penalty of treason, which is death."  
"You said Leyna told you about us?"  
"Yes I have visited her many times, I also speak to her when she is out doing chores in the village, although it is highly sinned upon."  
"Okay, well we appreciate everything. We leave in the morning." John proclaimed, before sitting closest to the fire.

Ronon sat outside and took first watch. He was distracted by another presence and knew that by the lack of footsteps, it was Magine.  
"May I speak with you?" He said quietly, taking a seat across from Ronon  
"No." Ronon dismissed ignoring him.  
"I owe you an apology." Magine struggled to speak, earning Ronon's attention. He continued:  
"I thought that if my sister was with me, then she would not do such reckless things such as getting herself hurt at the expense of another."  
Ronon was confused. He didn't see where this was heading.  
"Leyna and I were raised to protect ourselves above anyone. Our number was rule was self preservation. The only exception was each other. When we split up, it was the hardest thing I have ever known. I was constantly missing her, worrying for her. And then I find that she has been perfectly fine, and with you."  
Ronon narrowed his eyes taking offense to his words, "What are trying to say?"  
"What I'm saying is," Magine inhaled and exhaled a deep breath," I sensed the intensity of her feelings for you the moment I saw you together. I was worried. She has never felt this strongly about anything in her life. That night at the tavern, I felt how scared she became when you left for bed, it was like you were leaving for good, even though she knew you'd be just upstairs. I felt the joy explode in her when you kissed her the next morning.  
"I also felt that the physical pain she went though that day," Ronon winced at the memory of Leyna pinned against the tree, "and let me tell you, it was nothing compared to pain she felt for _you_ as you were holding her."

Ronon tried to understand what he was saying, yet none of it processed.  
"Why did you ask me to let her go?" He wanted to know the real reason.  
"I thought that if she believed you wanted her to leave with me, then she would move on and become the old Leyna again. Atlantis has changed her. She puts everyone else above herself and almost gets herself killed without caring. I never expected you to mean so much to her, that her constant misery of not being with you would cloud her judgment. I understand that I made a mistake now. She is no longer mine to protect. She is now and forever will be... yours"  
Ronon watched as Magine's face spoke nothing but the truth. He wanted so hard to be angry with him, but the only emotion he felt was sympathy.  
"You need to get her back."  
"I will"

The next morning, Ronon walked out to the waterfall. He washed his face in the lagoon. He heard someone behind him, and turned around and stared at Maria.  
"Morning." He said walking past her.  
"She loves you." Maria quietly said to him  
"Excuse me?" Ronon stopped to look at her.  
"Leyna."  
"I doubt that." Ronon huffed, "You didn't see her face when she left."  
"So if she sent you away, you would be happy and contempt?"  
"Mind your own business." He warned. Maria nodded and continued towards the lagoon.

* * *

"Alright kids. Let's move out." John smiled. He was feeling good. His missing team member was finally coming home.  
"Good luck" Magine wished them, and John nodded in acknowledgment.  
Maria guided them through the forest to the outskirt of the village. They found a spot where the entire courtyard and stables were visible. Barnes and houses were also in view as they hid behind a thick bush.  
"There." Maria pointed to a group of people. John followed her finger until his eyes rested upon a small woman sweeping the large courtyard. They could not see her face as she was to far away. She was sweeping slowly, and dragged her feet lethargically along the floor.  
"You!" he heard a man shout at the woman, "Get over here and help."  
The woman turned her head towards the man, and sighed. She lethargically walked over to the cart and carried a pale of water with great difficulty.  
"It's her." Ronon voiced. His voice was thick with emotion.  
"Yep it's her alright." McKay confirmed looking at his computer, "the energy reading incredibly low, but it's her." He crinkled his brow.  
"What does that mean?" Teyla asked.  
"I don't know." McKay sighed.  
Out the corner of his eye, he saw Ronon move closer.  
"Stay back Ronon." He warned. He grunted an John knew that Ronon was itching to go out there. It would take one single moment for him to snap.

He turned back to Leyna, who was struggling to carry the pale of water.  
"She seems so weak." He said rhetorically.  
"What that around her neck?" Teyla voiced to Maria.  
"Control collar." Maria assumed.  
"Its metal, can't she just take it off?" Rodney asked. Maria shook her head.  
"The collar is attached with needles into her neck. You said before her shield had very low energy. The hunters know about her ability. It injects a sedative so that she is too weak to use her powers.  
"That's why she's looks so tired." Ronon assumed.  
"Where do they keep her?" John asked. Maria pointed to a barn furthest away from the village.  
"It's the slave prison. The others have already been sold. She is the last one left."  
A whip cracked and John's head turned to watch a man come up to Leyna and pushed her forward  
"Hurry up!" He yelled in her ear.  
"Ronon." John cautioned, looking at him tighten his grip his gun. John highly doubted it was set to stun.

Leyna moved faster to the well in the middle of the courtyard and walked back to get the other pale. An elderly woman tripped over the empty bucket Leyna had left, and she ran back to help the woman stand. Seeing this, the hunter stormed over and grabbed Leyna's wrist throwing her to the ground.  
"How dare you touch a normal, you filthy, disgusting animal" The man spat beginning to beat her.  
Before John could stop him, Ronon sprung from behind the bush.  
"Ronon!" He hissed, but it was too late.  
Ronon was already at the well and smashing the hunters face into the pavement.  
"Oh god." Rodney groaned turning away.  
The villagers ran into the buildings as more hunters came to tame Ronon.  
A short and rather filthy man casually strolled up to the intruder that was currently taking of six of his men. John watched helplessly as Ronon was stunned once, twice, three times and then a fourth.

_**To be continued.**_


	15. Declarations

**_Authors note:_** I'm bringing you the chapters as soon as I write them. Merry Christmas!!

Chapter 15: Declarations  
_  
It's almost dark, _Ronon thought as he slowly opened his eyes. Sitting up, his body tingled from being stunned. He looked around and realised he was most probably in the barn Maria had called the 'Slave Prison'. Standing up, he grabbed the bar handles and tried yanking his way out. They were bolted pretty tight, so he tried to feel the lock. Looking around, he noticed how small the barn was. Three small cells on each side, then at the door a whip, knife and his gun hanging up on a wall.  
He heard voices and gave up on the lock. Placing both hand above his hand on the bars, he watched as a man walked in.  
Standing in front of him, the man asked for his name. Ronon remained silent. The man asked again, introducing himself this time as Rikell. Ronon grunted his name in return.

"So Ronon, did you happen to know the slave you attempted to save earlier on?"  
Receiving no answer back, Rikell smiled,  
"Nevertheless, you should know she is an untouchable. Plagued with demonic powers. Awraithbringer as far as we are concerned. Her life is not worth saving."  
Ronon felt the anger boil in him, but forced his muscles to stay still. He felt his mouth twitch a little.  
"Unfortunately you are to share this barn with her tonight. But I would never make you share a cell with the woman. No matter what crime you have committed Ronon."  
Walking away, Ronon pushed off of the bars and walked over to the corner facing the door. He felt his chest heave as another man brought Leyna into the barn over his shoulder. She looked lifeless. Opening a cell opposite him, they threw her on the floor, locked her cell and left the barn with only their fading laughter as confirmation they had left. Ronon's tough and silent facade instantly fell the moment the barn door shut.

Falling on his knees, pushing his head on the bars he called her name.  
"Leyna? Leyna are you okay?" After a long pause, he saw her stir. She tried pulling herself up, and Ronon took in her terrible condition.  
Her wrists and ankles were bruised horrifically. Her arms housed cuts and scratches. She slowly turned her head and looked at him.  
"You should not have come." She breathed before collapsing once again.  
Moving to the wall, Ronon watched her chest rise and fall, monitoring her as she slept.

* * *

Leyna woke up suddenly and jumped up into a sitting position. She was shivering as normal, due to night time on Andorra always being freakishly cold. She could see her breaths in the cold air and hugged her legs. Every part of her body ached as she felt the small metal collar digging into her neck. She had tried to escape the first time, bending the iron bars with her ability, but before she could find a way out of the barn, the hunters had come and placed the collar around her neck. Now, they kept her drugged, which was fine to a certain extent as it took away the pain her heart would constantly project. She longed for her brother, to know he was okay. But more than Magine, she longed for Ronon. Before she was captured, she had made the decision to return to Atlantis to see him only for a moment.  
Magine had told her a week before they were captured why Ronon wanted her to leave, as he said he couldn't handle the constant pain and misery she was projecting. Her and Magine had gotten into a momentous argument and Leyna had never been so mad in her life. She was angry because she thought Ronon didn't want her any more. If she had of known it was because of Magine, she would have said a proper goodbye, instead of huffing out of Atlantis.

She lifted her head, and stared at Ronon's sleeping figure. She closed her eyes before tears could fall; she had never felt guiltier. Here he was after how she left things, locked up in a cell for trying to save her. When she first heard him shout and grunt in the courtyard, she thought she was hallucinating. But as she looked up and saw Ronon fighting the hunters, she felt her chest shiver with hope and love.

She felt hope, because Ronon being here probably meant that John and the team were here too. She wasn't sure if Magine had come, as she was too drugged up to understanding her feelings properly. But if they had come to save her, then maybe she had a chance to make things right with Ronon.  
She felt love for nothing and no one but Ronon. He had come for her, her knight in shining armour as Sam would call it. She realised that he was her everything, and willed herself to get through this, just so she could tell him she loved him.  
She laughed at herself as she pondered on the thought.  
_Leyna Amill was in love with Ronon Dex.  
_She had always known deep down, but it wasn't until now she could actually admit it.  
His sleeping figure once again became blurry as she drifted asleep, thinking of his touch. Contempt that it may come sooner than she thought.

* * *

"Breakfast!"  
Ronon's eyes opened and adjusted to the blinding sunshine making its way through the window. Leyna began to stir, and Ronon sat up feeling anxious. He was anxious to see how she would react now that she wasn't so out of it. Sitting up, Leyna lifted her head and looked at him. Their eyes locked onto each other and Ronon felt like he could walk on water. Her eyes lit up at the sight of him, and a small smile twitched her lips. Her luscious red lips were full and Ronon's mouth began to water. With the light hitting her face, battered and bruised, she still looked like an angel.

They looked away from each other the moment men came in with their breakfast. Ronon's food was brought first. A large bowl of porridge was put in front of his cell, with two slices of bread. Ronon was incredibly hungry, but waited for them to bring Leyna's food. The man came back again with a slice of bread, and chucked it on the floor in front of her.  
"Is that all they feed you?" Ronon asked when the men had left.  
"For breakfast, lunch and dinner." She sighed picking up the piece of bread. Ronon's stomach growled but he took one piece of bread and slid the porridge and other piece across to Leyna's cell.  
"Ronon." She said disapprovingly.  
"Eat it." He ordered  
Obeying, Leyna ate half and slid the rest back Ronon. Sighing Ronon finished it off.  
"Is Magine here?" she asked him  
"Yes." He replied short, staring at her intently.  
Relief crossed her face, and then she itched her neck uncomfortably.  
"Does it hurt?" he asked, looking at the collar.  
"Only when they inject me."

The silence was awkward, given their last encounter. Ronon didn't wish to discuss it, but he could see it was nagging Leyna.  
"You have every right to mad at me." he started  
"I'm not mad."  
Laughing in surprise, Ronon rested his head against the wall.  
"Yea right."  
"Okay maybe a little" Leyna smiled.  
It was short lived as her face became serious, "Magine told me what happened,"  
This took Ronon by surprise and hope began to simmer deep within.  
"Everything?"  
"Everything." Leyna nodded, "So I'm not mad anymore."  
Her face was soft and her eyes pierced him.

* * *

"Get up!" Rikell shouted bursting through the doors.  
John watched as Leyna struggled to stand, leaning against the wall for support.  
"We have some potential buyers. Look sharp." He grinned.  
John watched Ronon's face turn from a feral snarl to a smile as He, Teyla and McKay walked through the doors.  
"This is the last of the prisoners. I have already sold the others." Rikell motioned to Leyna.  
"She's a woman." John stated.  
"She's a devil." Rikell explained.  
"How so?" Rodney asked in disbelief.  
"She can control metal due to a disease within our people. She is dangerous. She brings wraith."  
"Leave us." John demanded.  
"I'm not sure that is safe."  
"The slave can barely stand. Now leave us."  
He watched as Rikell nodded and left  
"Teyla take watch." John whispered, walking over to Leyna, "How you going?" he smiled.  
"I have been better." She breathed, giving a light smile back.  
"Rodney's going to try and get that thing off you." He said, walking over to Ronon.

"How they treating you buddy?" he said as Ronon walked up to the bars.  
"Better than they're treating her." He said bleakly. John nodded.  
"You're not going to buy her are you?" Ronon asked.  
"Of course we're not going to buy her." John exclaimed, "We just needed to see the lay out so that we can blast you guys out."  
"Thought you said that was plan D?"  
"I thought I told you stay back." John challenged. Ronon smiled.  
"Sheppard?" McKay voiced.  
"What?" John said walking over to him.  
"I can't take the collar off. But I can screw it up a little."  
"What good will that do her?" John asked annoyed.  
"Well for one she won't be drugged up to her eyeballs." Rodney retorted, equally as annoyed.

"They are returning." Teyla whispered walking back to John.  
"It's done." McKay clarified.  
"We'll be back tonight!" John said looking at Ronon.  
Walking to the door, Rikell opened it, before John did.  
"I have decided I will take her. I'll be back tomorrow to settle a price."  
Rikell nodded, as they walked past him.  
Inside John's head, Plan D was beginning to come together.

* * *

Leyna was getting stronger, as the hunters past three attempts to drug her had failed. Leyna pretended to feel it so that they would continue to believe that she was weak, but as the day went on she could feel her body strengthen.  
She had been taken out of her cell after John had left and ordered to continue on with her chores.  
A little after lunch, she was taken to what use to be an old pub and was stripped and painted in traditional Andorran patterns. Red and white swirls covered her arms and back.  
"You should know what these mean," Rikell spat.  
"You are a disgrace to our nation. You are a disease. These marking symbolise that you no longer belong to us."

When she put her dirty and torn skirt and her small top back on, she was taken to the middle of the courtyard. Knowing what was about to happen, she closed her eyes.  
Standing on a crate Rikell began to speak to the entire village now crowded around him. Opening her eyes, she looked at the crowd and knew that they remembered her. Before her powers developed, she was a much loved member of the village. She spotted Maria in the crowd who gave her a determined smile. Leyna knew Maria was aware of what would take place tonight, which gave her some comfort.

"This untouchable is no longer one of us. Tomorrow, she will be sold and forever be a slave to a stranger." Rikel shouted.  
Leyna gasped as she spotted Ronon standing outside of the prisoner barn in shackles. Rikell obviously wanted everyone to witness her humiliation.  
"Leyna Amill," He looked at her, "You are a disgrace to Andorra. May you forever wail in damnation and be at the mercy of another."  
The crowd erupted in a cheer for Rikell and a tear slid down her face. She was pushed back through the crowd, ignoring the abuse she received from the villagers. Reaching the barn, she was then shoved back in her cell.

* * *

Ronon's heart cried as he watched Leyna being publicly disowned by her people. When he asked the man that let him witness her downfall, he discovered what the markings painted on her arms meant. Anger roared within his chest, but he held back. He did not want to jeopardise Leyna's chances of escaping tonight.  
Being taken back to his cell, he refused to look at Leyna when she was also returned to her cell.  
"This time tomorrow, you will belong to stranger." Rikell sneered  
Ronon looked at Leyna's strange positioning. She was crouched down like a cat ready to pounce, her head down and her hair covering her face. When she lifted it, her eyes were deadly.  
"I belong to no one" He heard her growl.  
"That's what you think." He laughed, turning to walk away.  
She shouted something Andorran, and Rikell spun around with a shocked and angry look on his face.  
"I'll teach you respect!" he shouted.  
Opening her cell, he grabbed her by the collar and flung her across the cell. Ronon attacked the bars, dying to get out so he could rip Rikell's throat out.  
He could do nothing but watch as Rikel beat her, and shoved her out of the cell.  
"Hold her down!" he shouted to some men, who pinned Leyna to the ground.  
Rikell disappeared for a short while, and then returned with a glowing hot branding iron.  
"No!" Ronon shouted, his heart jumping out of his chest.  
Leyna struggled from under the men beginning to gain he upper hand.  
"The collar isn't working" he shouted as Leyna continued to get the upper hand.  
Dropping the branding iron, he ran to a cupboard and grabbed a needle.  
Ronon screamed treats as he grabbed Leyna by the hair causing her to yell in pain and injected the sedative. She instantly collapsed under the men.

Ronon continued to thrash in his cell. Yanking at the bars and thrashing and punching the wall. His knuckles became bloody, but he didn't care. Leyna was being used as a rag doll and he was doing nothing. He stopped in his tracks as Leyna shifted so that she could see him. Her eyes were full of fear.  
Her screams erupted the barn, as Rikell dug the branding iron in to her shoulder blade. Ronon dropped to his knees.  
"This may decrease your value a bit," Rikell sneered separating the branding iron from her skin, "But let it be a constant reminder, that you are a traitor and a disgrace."  
Rikell grabbed another needle from the cupboard and injected Leyna again, rendering her unconscious.

"I wonder how she broke this?" he mused taking the collar off.  
"I will kill you were you stand" Ronon shouted. Rikell smiled. Picking her up and dropping Leyna in her cell. He walked over to Ronon.  
"I thought you didn't know her?"  
Ronon didn't answer, his breathing too erratic and his anger too thick to speak.  
"So what is she?" Rikell asked, walking back to Leyna's still body.  
"She is not your sister, as I know her sore exuse for a brother well. Friend?" He smiled lifting her head roughly.  
He remained silent.  
"Judging by the protectiveness you feel towards her, i think that friend is a much too civil word."  
Ronon growled as Rikell's hands gently stroked down her back.  
"She is you mate isn't she?"  
Ronon's eyes gave him away and Rikell laughed in amusement.

Ronon sunk deeper into his knees as he gave up. He felt useless behind these bars. He looked over to Leyna's still form and desperately wanted to hold her.  
"Please, let me be with her." He pleaded. Ronon was at a loss, so he changed his tatic.  
"What do you mean?" Rikell asked standing up.  
"Let me hold her." He hated feeling vulnerable, but if it meant Leyna in his arms then so be it.  
"Not a chance." Rikell scoffed.  
"Please!" Ronon shouted, "Do you not have a wife? Someone you love?" Rikell stopped in thought. After a long pause he grabbed his gun.  
"I do not trust you, so this is for precaution."  
Ronon grunted as Rikell began to stun him.

~~~

Ronon woke abruptly, and looked out the window to see the stars. It was night time and the moon shone through the window like a light. Shock froze him for a moment, as he remembered what happened and crawled to Leyna's still form.  
He looked at the brand on her shoulder blade. It was blistered and smelt like burnt flesh.  
He began to sob when he gently turned her over and saw her face covered in blood.  
His chest heaved as he cleaned the blood off her face with his shirt.  
She stirred a little and struggled to open her eyes.  
"Leyna?" he whispered.  
She moaned in reply.  
Cradling her in his arms, he gently rocked her with his face buried in her hair.  
"I love you." He whispered, he needed her to pull through this.  
"I love you." He repeated.

Maybe those three words that Ronon feared telling her so much, would be the reason she would come back to him.

**_PLEASE REVEIW!  
To be Continued...  
_**


	16. Permanent

**Authors Note:** I have put the lyrics of David Cook's amazingly beautiful song _Permanent_throughout this chapter. They will be in the bold italics. I think that it can help explain Ronon and Leyna's relationship in a way that I cannot due to copyright. Hope you like!

Also, Thank you to Kristen, Sadie65, music-gurl71, LeonaMasha and lynny, for actually reviewing. It's very much appreciated.

**Chapter 16: **Permanent

_**Is this the moment where I look you in the eye?  
Forgive my broken promise that you'll never see me cry  
And everything will surely change  
Even if I say I won't go away today**_

"John?" Teyla's worried voice interrupted his thoughts. He walked over to the camp fire where Teyla was sitting with Magine.  
"What is it?"  
"It's Leyna. She's hurt." Magine mumbled. His hands were grabbing his face.  
"How bad?" John asked.  
"I feel like my face has been ripped off." He grunted  
"Alright, let's move. Grab the gear."  
"I thought we weren't going for another two hours?" Rodney asked.  
"Leyna may not have two hours."  
Nodding, Rodney began to pack up his computer, his face full of worry.  
"Colonel, I wish to come." John turned around to see Magine hobbling over to him.  
"I don't think that's a good idea." He explained slowly  
"Please. She is there because of me. I may be of service."  
"Fine. But you stay back. You're not in proper condition." John said, eyeing Magine who was scrunching his face up.  
Magine nodded and John began to head towards the village.

* * *

_Hurry up Sheppard. _Ronon thought.  
The moon was high in the sky and Ronon was mesmerised by the night sky. He had never seen a moon so bright, nor the starts even brighter in all of the planets he had visited.  
A soft knock caught Ronon's attention. He sat up to investigate, gently placing Leyna on the straw floor beside him.  
He looked around his cell, the soft knocking had stopped.  
He was just about to dismiss it and pick Leyna up again, when chipping replaced the knocking.  
Smiling, Ronon made his way to the wall that now had a small hole in it.  
"Ronon?" Sheppard's voice entered the cell.  
"Sheppard." Ronon breathed. Finally it was time.  
"How's Leyna? Magine said she was hurt."  
"She's okay for now. But we can't wait much longer." Ronon said sternly.  
"Alright. Sit tight buddy. We'll get you out soon."  
Another voice filled the barn in the silent night, and Ronon turned to see Leyna sitting up against the wall.  
He scurried across the cell, and gently lifted Leyna's head.  
"Leyna?"  
"I am fine. Was that John?" She breathed.  
Ronon smiled, "Yea. There gonna bust us out soon. You hang in there."  
He sat himself next to Leyna and wrapped his arm around her. Her head fell onto his chest, and her hand gently made its way around his thigh.  
Ronon reminded himself that now was not the place to react to her touch, and forced himself to prepare for the escape.

* * *

John walked around the front and spotted four guards at the door. Cursing under his breath, he looked over to the hunter infested courtyard. Creeping back to Rodney, Teyla and Magine, he sighed.  
"They have more hunters on guard than last night. There's too many."  
"What are we going to do?" Rodney asked, his eyes wide and gloomy.  
"You need a distraction." Magine said.  
"Yea but what?" John asked.  
"We have flares?" Teyla said taking one out.  
"I'll take it around the other side. I can hide when they come to check it out." Magine stated before grabbing the flare and creeping away.  
"Be careful." John hissed to Magine's retreating figure.  
Creeping back to the hole he made in the wall, he whispered into it.  
"Ronon? Can Leyna walk?"  
"I can." He herd Leyna answer for herself.  
"Barely." He herd Ronon mutter, but that was good enough for John.

John, Teyla and Rodney crept around the side of the barn. The flare went off quite a distance away and like they predicted, hunters ran to check it out leaving four to guard the barn. Luck seemed to be on their side as two of the men went across the courtyard to patrol the borders.  
John and Teyla crept up behind them and quickly twisted their necks.  
He felt uneasy about actually doing this to another person as he had only practiced it with Teyla in the gym, but knew it had to be done. Silently slipping into the barn, John grabbed Ronon's gun and blasted the cell holding Ronon and Teyla.  
"The other two would have heard that." Teyla said, helping Ronon put Leyna on her feet.  
"I'll take care of that" Ronon grunted grabbing his gun from John and walking to the door.  
The hunters barged through guns blazing and John told everyone to take cover, as he hid behind a wooden barrel.  
The gun fire ceased as quickly as it came, and John looked out to see the hunters on the ground, blood oozing from their chests, Ronon staring at them with a feral snarl.  
"Okay." John said in surprise, "Let's go."  
They hurried out of the barn and headed to the cave where the puddle jumper was. John prayed that Magine was there waiting.

He sighed in relief as Magine ran to Leyna's side and held her in a tight and loving embrace.

* * *

_**Will you think that you're all alone,  
When no one's there to hold your hand?  
When all you know seems so far away  
and everything is temporary, rest your head.  
I'm permanent**_

Leyna hugged her brother so tightly it hurt, but she didn't care.  
She felt the worry and grief leave her brother and be replaced with so much love and happiness of holding her. When they pulled apart, he took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead.  
"My dear sister, I am so glad you are alright."  
"You too" Leyna responded.  
"We need to head to the puddle Jumper" John's voice reached her ears, and she came crashing back into reality.  
Grabbing Magine's hand, they began to run through the forest. Her legs were weak and she stumbled when they eventually gave way. Large arms wrapped around her waist and placed her back on her feet. She turned to see Ronon's worried face looking down at her and she smiled despite her sore face.

A loud blast erupted in the forest and a sharp pain entered her chest. She gasped and clutched Ronon's muscular arms for support. He tightened her grip on her and began to drag her out the way, but Leyna had already turned her head to see John and Teyla firing back and Rodney dragging Magine's body behind a tree. Her heart stopped as the pictures began to make sense in her head and soon she was screaming for Ronon to let her go.  
His grip tightened as Leyna thrashed and jumped around in Ronon's arms. He eventually hauled Leyna over to where Rodney had dragged Magine and Ronon let her go so he could fend off hunters that were making their way to them.  
"I've tried everything I could do!" Rodney said putting pressure on Magine's wound, "But he got shot directly into the heart."  
Leyna's eyes poured out tears and she cried for Magine to answer her.  
She stopped her wailing when he opened his eyes.  
"Magine?" she sobbed  
"Lenny." He breathed.  
"Just hold on." She cried, "You're going to get through this."  
Magine coughed and Leyna panicked when blood poured out his mouth.  
"We gotta go!" John shouted heading for the puddle jumper. It was in sight, and probably only 30 feet away from their current position.  
"Come on!" she said trying to pull him up, "we're so close!"  
He screamed and she let him lie back down. He grabbed her hand, and stared directly into his eyes.  
"Go." He said sternly.  
"No." She cried in disbelief. She didn't even realise Ronon next to her until Magine grabbed his arm.  
"Look after her." He said shaking, she could feel him becoming cold.  
Ronon nodded, and began to pull her away. Leyna managed to squeeze out of his embrace, and scramble back to Magine.  
"NO!" She cried when she shook him and was only met with him staring into the night sky. She no longer felt his heart beat, no longer felt his presence. He was gone.

Ronon grabbed her more forcefully this time and picked her up and carried her into the puddle jumper. They were still under attack as blasts hit the outside of the jumper.  
Furry arose within Leyna as she elbowed Ronon in the nose and then the stomach. She was released from his grip and began to pound on the door of the puddle jumper. Leyna wailed as she felt the puddle jumper lift and move away from the hunters, as the thumping of gunshots lessened and lessened.

"Leave her with me." Teyla's voice broke through her cries. Leyna heard the door close to the front of the puddle jumper and felt a hand press lightly on her back. She turned to see Teyla's sympathetic face and her large brown eyes wet and weary. Leyna flung herself onto Teyla and they both collapsed against the hatch.  
She felt Teyla stroke her hair and Leyna felt herself begin to calm in Teyla's presence. Her cries eventually turned into sobs as Teyla's soft humming filled the jumper.

* * *

The only time Ronon had felt more hurt, was when he watched Melena die.  
The memory was only slight painful, as the events of today began to engulf him. He still felt like Magine was clutching his arm, but knew that he was long gone.  
"Here." Rodney handed a piece of cloth to him. "Your nose is still bleeding."  
It was the quietest he had ever heard Rodney speak, as silence filled the front part of the puddle jumper.  
He, John and Rodney listened carefully as they heard Leyna's cries turn into sobs.  
His chest was throbbing with grief, and as he looked to Rodney who was looking down at his shoes, and to John who dared not to look anywhere else but dead ahead, he knew they felt it too.  
All three men winced when Leyna's cries reached their ears, but none of them spoke a word.

When they finally went through the star gate John landed the puddle jumper in the gate room. John opened the first door and Ronon stood and watched as Leyna was still sobbing in Teyla's arms. He looked to Teyla who own eyes were streaked with tears, as she continued to stroke her hair.  
Ronon yearned to take Teyla's place, and walked over to help Leyna up.  
She yanked her arms away and hissed, "Don't touch me!" Before letting Teyla help her stand.  
Hurt wrecked havoc inside Ronon and her rejection stung like nothing he had ever known.  
She looked at him with hate, loathing and pity making Ronon step away from her.

The hatch opened and a Med team was already waiting. They rushed to Leyna, and John made his way over to explain things to Sam. He looked after Leyna as she was rushed out of his sight, until a hand rested on his arm.  
"Do not take offense Ronon," Teyla's soft voice rang in his ears, "She is grieving quite heavily."  
"Did you see the way she looked at me?" He asked his usually husky voice breaking.  
"Give her time." Teyla said before walking over to join John and Sam.

The briefing was very short and to the point. They didn't linger on details, and Ronon was thankful. Everyone was in a very morbid mood.  
Ronon was sent to the infirmary to get his nose checked out, but Ronon was reluctant to go.  
He knew that Leyna was in there and was afraid that she would attack him, or start crying again. He knew he was being a coward, but he delayed his visit for as long as possible. Eventually he found himself wondering into the infirmary.  
"I've been waiting for you." Dr. Keller greeted him.  
He grunted in reply and sat down on an empty bed as Keller checked his nose.  
"The good news is it's not broken," she smiled,"But I'm afraid it will be very sore and tender for a while.  
He nodded and looked over to the other room where Leyna sat with her back to him. A nurse was tending to the brand on her shoulder.

"How is she?" he asked. Jenifer looked to what he was referring to.  
"She's fine, looks a lot worse than she is. Her face will heal, just a split lip and some bruising. As for that brand, well it's not going to get infected as long as I keep changing its dressing."  
Ronon looked to her knowing she had missed something out. She sighed.  
"Inside, she's not doing too well. She won't eat, wont sleep; she just sits there and cries. John and Rodney tried talking to her but she just ignores them. Teyla is the only person she lets touch her. She spent half an hour trying to convince Leyna to let me and a nurse look after her."  
"Is she going to stay here?"  
Keller shook her head, "She wants to stay in her quarters. She is going to let me in her room to change her dressings."  
"Look after her Doc." Ronon said as he walked out of the infirmary.  
As he made his way to his quarters, Ronon mused about going back and visiting her.  
He made a promise to Magine, and whether she hated him or not, as far as Leyna was concerned, he was permanent.

* * *

Leyna sat on her bed and stared out the window. Her bruising was almost gone and her lip had healed up quickly. The only thing that still hurt a little was the brand that was now forever burnt in her skin. A knock on her door shook her from her coma like state, and she walked over to unlock the door.  
It had been two weeks since she had left her room. Opening the door, to no one but Jenifer. People had come to visit her, but she either told them to get lost or just ignored them. Some people were harder to ignore than others, and eventually she let Teyla in for some company.  
Other than Teyla and Jenifer, she had not spoken to anyone in since she got back.

Letting Jenifer in, she locked the door behind her.  
"How are you today?" Jenifer smiled. Most of the stuff she needed was already in Leyna's room.  
Taking off a sleeve she grunted a reply.  
She felt the bandage peel off her skin, and Jenifer swabbed it with disinfectant.  
"It's a lot better than yesterday. You're the fastest healer I have ever known. Does it still hurt?" She asked.  
"Only a little." Leyna said quietly.  
"Well I think that it's time you get out of this room."  
"No." She said sternly.  
"Why not? Everyone misses you. Some more than others." She eyed Leyna.

Leyna knew that Jenifer was referring to Ronon. In between her crying and her mourning, grief would constantly consume her. She had treated her friends of Atlantis horribly, Ronon in perticular and regretted her behaviour the day her brother died. She replayed that day over and over again and while at first she blamed them for the way things turned out, she knew she was wrong.  
They had done nothing but help her, try to free her and bring her home.  
"Okay, I'm done," Jenifer stood up to leave, "I'll bring your dinner at 6."  
Leyna smiled, "Thanks Jen."

* * *

Rodney spotted Jenifer loading two trays of food and smiled, creeping up behind her.  
"Hungry?" He asked making her jump.  
"Rodney you scared me" She breathed. He smiled and waited for her to answer his question.  
"It's for Leyna."  
Rodney's smile disappeared as Leyna made her way into his thoughts. He hadn't seen her for weeks. Every time he went to go visit her, she would ignore him. Normally that would bother him, but seeing as she did it to everyone, he didn't dwell on it.  
But he wanted to see if she was okay. His memory was filled with the painful cries she wailed in the jumper and he was constantly haunted by the grief that he could of done more for Magine. That maybe somehow he could of survived.  
"Let me take it to her." He said taking the tray from Jenifer.  
"I doubt she'll let you in."  
"Well if it doesn't work I'll come find you, and you can give it to her."  
"Fine." She sighed. Rodney quickly kissed her and made his way to Leyna's room.

He secretly hoped that he wouldn't run into Ronon, as the past few weeks he had been moodier than usual.  
Reaching Leyna's room, he didn't even bother knocking, knowing that he would get a 'go away' or no answer at all. Playing with the crystals in the panel, the door slid open.  
He walked into the room, and as the door slid shut, Leyna sat up from her sleeping state on her bed.  
"Hi." He squeaked when Leyna looked at him with surprise. He suddenly wished that he had not come at all.  
"I um, brought you dinner." He said setting food tray on her bed.  
"Why did you break in?" She asked,  
"Well...." He stammered, "I haven't seen you in a while, and i uh, just wanted to make sure you weren't dead or anything." His poor excuse for an explanation made Leyna smile.  
"I would of answered the door." She said, grabbing a sandwich from the tray.  
"No you wouldn't." He scoffed.

Silence filled the air, and Rodney felt uncomfortable again. He decided that maybe it was time to go and got up to leave.  
"Rodney." Leyna said. He turned around and looked at her walking up to him. His body went stiff as she hugged him.  
"Thankyou" She murmured from his chest  
"What for?" he asked incredulously  
She pulled away, and Rodney noticed her eyes begin to well up.  
"You tried to save my brother. I know I didn't act like it, but I appreciate it more than you know."  
Sadness filled his heart as he watched Leyna speak about her brother with pain.  
"I'm sorry I couldn't have done more."  
She shook her head, "Some things are inevitable. No matter how much we try."  
She went back to her bed and continued eating her tray.  
Nodding, Rodney exited her room, not knowing that Ronon was behind the corner, watching him leave.

_**To be continued.  
**_Review! Review! Review!


	17. Facing the music

Chapter 17: Facing the music.

Ronon glared as he watched Rodney leave Leyna's room in a hurry.  
The jealousy he felt for the scientist grew, and he stalked over to Leyna's closed door.  
_If Rodney could see her, then why can't I? _Ronon thought, his hand ready to knock. _Because she hates you. _Another voice said in his head  
Sighing Ronon dropped his hand and stalked back to his room.  
He was going crazy. Mentally crazy. He hadn't seen Leyna in two weeks and he was just down the corridor from her. He had tried to see her, but just like everyone else she turned him away.

When she eventually let Teyla in, he virtually interrogated the poor woman when she came out. Asking how she was, was she healing properly? How is she eating if she won't come out her room? Is she talking?  
Now Teyla would come to him after she visited her, so Ronon wouldn't have to track her down.  
He knew he shouldn't be all that angry with Rodney, because technically she didn't let him in. He watched as Rodney hacked into the door panel, and wished he knew how to do it himself, even though she would probably start screaming abuse for him to leave. Her hatred towards him didn't waver his decision to leave her though, he would wait till she was ready.  
He knew what it was like to mourn a loved one. Melena use to consume his thoughts, but it took time until he was able to completely forgive himself. Granted it took him over nine years, but even if it took Leyna ten years he would be there. He made a promise the day he first kissed her.  
He would not let her go.

* * *

Leyna finished the food tray and breathed out a loud sigh.  
The sun was beginning to set outside, and she had been cooped up long enough. She went to the bathroom; quickly cleaned up her appearance, and changed into some cleaner clothes. Picking up the empty tray, she opened her door for the first time in two weeks headed for the mess hall. She received stares from people passing by, and all Leyna could do was smile.  
Lorne greeted as she walked in the mess Hall, instantly lifting her mood.  
"Leyna!" he said in shock, "It's good to see you."  
"You too" She smiled, hugging him. Disposing her tray, she chatted to Lorne, but noticed he watched what he said. She apreciated his thoughtfulness, and Lorne guided her towards a table with Jenifer and Rodney.

"hey guys!" he almost shouted, "Look who decided to see the light"  
"Leyna!" Jenifer said shocked.  
"I thought it was time I face the music." Leyna could feel herself blush.  
"Good to hear. Does this mean that you'll come to the infirmary to change your dressing?" Jenifer asked cheekily. Leyna smiled and nodded.  
"It was me wasn't it?" Rodney asked smugly, "I'm the reason your up and about. See? I told Jenifer all you needed was a good dose of Rodney McKay to make you feel better!"  
Leyna laughed for the first time in weeks. It caught her by surprise, but she let the feeling linger.  
"Where's John?" Leyna asked, she needed to apologise.  
"In his quarters I believe." Lorne answered.  
She thanked them for everything and then left a smug Rodney to boast.

Teyla and Kanaan's quarters were on the way so she walked to their door and swiped her hand on the panel. The door opened and Leyna smiled seeing Teyla rocking Torren in her arms.  
"Leyna!" Teyla greeted in surprise. She put Torren down and gave Leyna a big hug, "it is great to see you. What are you doing here?"  
"I came to see my favourite little boy!" Leyna cooed picking up Torren, "Where is Kanaan?"  
"He left this afternoon to help with the harvest. Although I'm sure if he had of known you were to visit, he would of left it until tomorrow"  
"Don't be silly Teyla. Besides, I didn't even know _I _was coming to visit." Leyna smiled.  
Teyla returned the smile and her face became soft, but worried.  
"How are you doing?" She asked.  
Leyna knew she meant to say _how are you coping? _But was afraid it would upset her.  
"It is hard, but i owe it to everyone in Atlantis to make an effort. Besides, Magine would not want me wallowing in guilt the rest of my life."  
"That is very wise...and brave." Teyla acknowledged.  
"Thank you. I was actually on my way to see John." Leyna changed the subject, "I need to apologise."  
"What for?"  
"For the way I have been acting."  
"No one blames you," Teyla comforted, "We all understand what you are going though. We just wish we could do more to help."  
Putting Torren down, Leyna hugged the closest thing she ever had to a sister and a best friend.

* * *

John read the same line of War and Peace for the third time in a row now.  
He just couldn't concentrate. Relief came as the bell chimed on the door, and John got up to answer it.  
He felt his eyes almost pop out of his head when Leyna stood on the other side smiling at him.  
"You're alive?" John said in mock sarcasm. It was the only thing he knew to say in these situations. Leyna laughed and nodded.  
"I never got to thank you." She said, John let her in and pulled up a chair for her.  
"What for?" He really had no idea what she was talking about.  
"For saving me. Even though I left Atlantis, you came for me."  
"Well I won't take all the credit. Your brother was the one tha-" John cursed under his breath as he mentioned her brother. Just like always, he'd put his foot in it.  
"It's okay John." She reassured him.  
"Sorry, I'm not good at this." He said awkwardly.  
He was met with Leyna's laugh and relaxed instantly.  
To his relief, she changed the subject, and John informed her on everything she had missed. From missions, to gossip on Atlantis and even wraith gossip. He became relaxed as they talked about non personal stuff and for a moment it was like none it ever happened. Leyna looked relaxed and happy, but when she finished laughing she would always show her sadness for a split second, reminding John that is wasn't just a dream.  
When it was time to leave, John gave Leyna a much deserved hug. "You know you still have a place on my team. It's their whenever you're ready."  
"Thanks John." She smiled, before walking back down the corridor.

* * *

Leyna walked back to her quarters feeling happier than she had in a long time. She only had one other person to make right with. Fortunately for Leyna, she bumped into this person sooner than she expected.  
Leyna got out of the transporter and turned the corner sharply, bumping into what she first thought was a solid wall. Large brown arms stabilized her and she looked into those green eyes she had been looking for.  
"Sorry" Ronon mumbled, letting her go and stepping back. He seemed hesitant and Leyna felt guilty knowing she was the reason.  
"It's okay." She said, hoping he would note the forgiveness in her voice.  
"What are you doing out of your room?" he asked,  
"I went to see John." She explained, "I also think it's time I return to the land of the living." She joked.  
Ronon didn't see the funny side and only nodded in return.

"I don't hate you." She said getting the problem out in the open. His eyes flickered surprise, but his face remained hard.  
"Could've fooled me."  
"Well give me a break I just lost my brother." She said in disbelief, it was like he was angry at her.  
"I'm sorry." He mumbled looking away. She could see he wanted to escape.  
"No I'm sorry," she said, moving her head so he would look at her, "You came for me and you saved me when considering how we parted last time, you could of just forgotten me and pretended i was anyone else."  
Ronon tilted his head toward her, "You're not just anyone else though are you?" He said low and gruff.  
Leyna's memory flittered back to when they where held prisoner. Ronon was holding her in arms and she heard him utter his love for her over and over.  
"Did you really mean what you told me that night?" She asked, her head tilted back to she could see his eyes. She knew he understood what she meant.  
"Yes." He said strongly.  
"Do you still feel that way now?" Her heart stopped in anticipation. Ronon looked at her incredulously, before reply the same "Yes" as before.  
"Good." Leyna breathed.

She grabbed one hand and placed it on his shoulder and wrapped the other hand around his neck, pulling him in. Her lips crashed into Ronon's as she kissed him fiercely. She felt his body freeze, but then relax and Ronon opened his mouth to deepen the kiss.  
Leyna felt her body electrify, and a warm fuzzy feeling enveloped her body. It was a craving she didn't realise she had and she felt herself wanting more and more. Ronon's arms wrapped around her and pulled her against him. Reluctantly pulling away, the only sounds that could be heard in the silent hallway were her and Ronon's heavy breathing. His eyes were closed, his brows were furrowed. She worried that she was rushing him, so she raised her self on her tippy toes and whispered, "I love you too." into his ear.  
Letting him go, she stepped around him, wished him a good night and continued into her quarters.

* * *

"Are we done yet?" Ronon complained to Rodney.  
He was dying to get back to Atlantis, he needed to see Leyna.  
The mission they were on turned out to be an old ancient hide out. While they had concluded nothing valuable could be salvaged from it, they were having a hard time tearing Rodney away.  
"Yes I'm done... for today." Rodney sighed clearly annoyed.  
Walking back into the Jumper, Ronon's thoughts once again drifted back into his confrontation with Leyna the previous night.  
He had finally worked up the courage to see her, but when the door slid open she was nowhere to be seen. Worry filled him and he went to go find her, but as he turned the corner, he almost knocked her over.

What followed after that was a blur as his mind skipped straight to the part where she asked him if he still loved her. He was genuinely shocked she would ask that of him, as he thought he was being pretty obvious for a man like him. He couldn't understand how she thought he could fall out of love with her. He didn't know what to say but yes, and when she kissed him, he had no idea how to react.  
If he rejected her, he may have wedged an even bigger gap between them. But if he kissed her back, he may have lost his sanity.  
He chose to loose his sanity as his body electrified at the fierceness of her kiss, and Ronon had no choice but to kiss her back.  
Just like he thought, his sanity was long gone, and his body took over. He pulled her against him, careful not to hurt her and plunged his tongue into her mouth connecting with hers.  
When she pulled away, he refused to open his eyes afraid that it was a dream. Her breathing was the only sign that she was real.

When she whispered "I love you too" in his ear, he almost exploded with joy. Stepping out of the puddle jumper and back into Atlantis, he almost exploded in joy just remembering it. Something in his trousers twitched with desire, want and need, and Ronon knew what it was craving.  
His mouth watered at the thought of her and he was on his way to Leyna's room before anyone could say 'briefing room'.

_**To be continued.....**_

_**Author's note**_: I am planning to write a detailed sex scene between Leyna and Ronon, as implied at the end of this chapter. Of course I will bump the rating up as appropriate, and put a warning at the start of the chapter, but I want to know what you think. Should I write the sex scene? Or just skip it like have in previous chapters. Please let me know :)


	18. The Feelings of Love

Chapter 18: The feelings of Love  
**  
Warning: Contains explicit sex scene**.

**Authors Note**: I've done my best. I made a hell raunchy/corny version of this, (LOL) but I deleted it cuz it was majorly out of character for them both. Let me know how I went this time around. Enjoy :)

Ronon was itching to get to Leyna's room as quickly as possible.  
He was jumpy and excited and his mouth was watering as his imagination got the better of him.  
"What's with you?" John asked in the transporter, eyeing Ronon from the corner of his eye. Ronon froze, not wanting to explain his heightened mood,  
"Nothing" he replied casually.  
He immediately stopped being so jumpy and tried to be as still as possible. John must have accepted his lack of an answer as he exited the transporter smiling.  
"Don't forget our sparring match tomorrow morning." He said walking away.  
"Wouldn't miss it." Ronon replied.  
He waited for the transporter doors to shut before cursing out loud. He had forgotten that John wanted to spar and Ronon wondered if he would have to leave Leyna early in the morning.

As he got out the transporter, he tentatively walked as normal as possible to her room. Swiping the panel, he was surprised when the door slid open.  
His ears immediately picked up on her quiet sobs and letting himself in, he made his way to her shaking figure underneath her bed sheets. His mood went from a great eagerness to great worry as he sat beside her and gently touched her arm.  
She gasped loudly jumping right out of the bed. Ronon stood as well with his hands raised.  
"Easy," he assured her, "It's only me."  
His brows furrowed as he looked at her blood red eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair messy.  
She breathed and fell back onto the bed, this time hugging her knees.  
"I didn't hear you come in. Why are you here? " She sniffed  
"I wanted to see you." He confessed. She didn't need the _whole_ truth.  
"I'm fine" she poorly defended, Ronon scoffed and sat next to her. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in. Leyna clung to him tightly.  
"When I'm alone, he's all I think about. I feel empty and cold. I miss him so much." She cried.  
Ronon didn't know how to comfort her, so he just let her cry into his chest. He wished there was something he could do to make her forget about her brother.

"Have you tried sleeping?" he asked, although he didn't know why. Sleeping wouldn't bring Magine back.  
"Yea, but when I sleep, I have the same dream over and over. I always see him get shot, then I watch him die, and then I leave him."  
Ronon knew it was the leaving part that bothered her the most. He didn't like leaving Magine's body for the hunters either, but at the time they had too.  
"Can you stay with me?" She asked, looking up at him.  
Ronon couldn't refuse her big wet eyes and nodded. Climbing into bed face to face with her, he stroked her cheek until her eyes drifted shut. He waited until her breathing was even, and he was sure she was sleeping peacefully, before he gently released her and left for his quarters.

* * *

Leyna woke up in a hot sweat. She tried to calm her breathing, but it was no good. She looked around to see that her guardian was not there. The guardian that had lulled her to sleep and consumed her dreams until evil took over.  
Leyna got out of bed, and went to her bathroom. She stared at her reflection in the mirror and realised how horrible she looked. After washing her face and feeling refreshed she returned to her bed and tried to go to sleep again. But her eyes would not grow weary and her heart would not calm down. Her lower body twitched with a foreign feeling, and Leyna began to explore it. Gently touching her precious spot, the pleasure that consumed her was overwhelming. She closed her eyes and stroking herself, she pictured one man with her. An angel with soft dark skin, beautiful green eyes and a deep husky voice that made her moan.

Opening her eyes, she let her heart guide her out of bed, out of her room and standing in front of Ronon's. Swiping the panel, she realised it was locked and after waiting a while with no answer, she silently thanked Rodney for teaching her how to break into the Atlantian rooms, as she set to work with Ronon's door. She smiled when it slid open, and she stepped into his room and her eyes fell upon his sleeping form. His naked back was facing her, and she longed to touch the muscles that hid underneath his soft and succulent skin. Her senses picked up metal coming from everywhere, and she looked around to see his sword, knives and all sort of things around his room. Remembering the knife that was kept under his pillow while he slept, she remained careful. Sitting behind him, she reached for his arm. When she touched it, Ronon shot up like lightning and before she knew it, a blade was pressed against her jugular. Her face remained unmoved and when her eyes met his, his hand immediately dropped the knife.  
"What are you doing here?" he asked confused.  
"I woke up and you were gone." Leyna replied. Her mind raced as she watched his gaze take in her appearance. She was aware that her small, blue, lace night dress shone in the moonlight, and the cool breeze that entered his room gave made her nipples harden underneath. Licking his lips, he seemed incoherent.  
"Sorry." He managed to mumble, "I wanted a shower."

"Can I stay with you?" Leyna asked, suddenly afraid he might say no. She felt the need to explain, "I feel safe with you."  
"Of course." Ronon said moving over. Her eyes scanned his heavenly body as he sat up and revealed his torso. Their eyes met and Leyna could not control herself any longer. Grabbing his face in her hands, she kissed him with an eagerness that was met by Ronon's hands pulling her on top on of him.  
With her knees at both sides of him and her feet tucked under for support, she began to hungrily kiss and nibble his neck. Her excitement heightened when a moan escaped his mouth and his grip tightened around her arms. Feeling his hardness under the covers was all it took for Leyna to scrunch her toes in pleasure and anticipation.

* * *

Ronon was struggling between his mind and his body as Leyna grinded against him. His mind was screaming _No! She's not ready! _But his body was saying otherwise. His manhood grew large and hard and twitched uncontrollably. It felt like electrical bolts were being attracted to the one particular spot, and he could not contain himself any longer. When she kissed his neck he was on the brink. When she nibbled his neck and his body shivered, he lost it. Tightening his grip on her arms, he pulled her closer to him and rolled them both over so that he now lay on top. He crushed his mouth to hers and they engaged in a fierce and long awaited battle of the tongues. Her legs wrapped around him and it was all he needed to feel his way up her smooth and toned legs, all the way up to her underwear. Touching her softly, he felt her wetness and disposed of her panties not caring where they landed. Next to go was her night gown. Her hair was still in a messy pony tail, and Ronon preferred it to keep out of his way of her body and face as he took in her goddess like naked form. His mouth found hers again as his hands became obsessed with her breasts, cupping and stroking them gently. Leyna moaned with pleasure making him shake with happiness.

He pulled away, sat up and disposed of his pants, then felt Leyna's hand grip his neck as she swung one leg around to kneel on top of him again. He held her waist this time and felt her stop as his manhood just touched her entrance.  
Her breathing was heavy, a single strand of hair flying up and down with her breaths. His mind flickered back to the time when they were in the bar late at night. Just like then, he was displeased that it interfered with her perfect face. Just like then, he gently pushed it away. He pulled her face to his and kissed her with enough emotion to set all of Atlantis on fire and she began to slowly move down against him. She whimpered when his entire length was now inside of her. Ronon felt her tightness, her warmth and craved more.

Lying back down on the bed, Leyna began to move on top of him, going slowly at first, until she found a rhythm that she liked. Their breathing became louder, as did his moans and her whimpers. Ronon became slightly frustrated with her rhythm and wanted to create his own, so he rolled them both over and quickened there movement. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist and Ronon nuzzled his face into her neck, tasting her sweat and feeling her pulse quicken. He felt a hand find its way into his hair, gripping his dreadlocks at the base of his head. Lifting his head to look at her, he smiled at her eyes closed, mouth open and breathing erratic. She arched her back as he continued to slide into her and her breasts pressed against his. She opened her eyes and smiled at him as he pinned both hands with his larger ones above her head.  
"You've always gotta be in charge." She laughed and a grinning Ronon began to kiss her again.  
He felt himself begin to feel a build up of pleasure at the base of his penis, and began to quicken his pace faster and harder. Leyna knew what this meant and he felt her grip tighter with her legs.  
Their moaning became louder and louder as she buried her face into his neck. Ronon let himself go and released a loud but low moan of ecstasy as Leyna whimpered her own. Ronon felt a tiny zap of pain, as teeth sank into his neck. Leyna's hands were still gripped tightly around his, and just then she released his neck with a sharp breath in. Her hands loosened their grip and Ronon collapsed on top of her.  
He was overdosed on ecstasy as his body still felt the tingling sensation run through his body. He gently pulled out of her and rolled off, onto his back. His breathing was just as heavy as Leyna's.  
Looking over at her he saw her tear her eyes away from the ceiling and look at him. Her chest was rising and falling erratically, her hands still above her head. She smiled at him and when he smiled back, she rolled onto her side laughing. Joining in, Ronon laughed for the first time in weeks, possibly even months and enjoyed the feeling of her snuggling into him.

* * *

When Leyna awoke again, she felt a bit disappointed. Once again she woke to a bed with only herself for company. Thoughts of last night had filled her memory, and she smiled as each detail popped into her head. Hopping out of Ronon's bed, she dressed herself in her night gown, and silently crept out of his room. She made sure that no one was there because walking out of a room that is not your own, in the morning was not going to be left alone if someone saw her. She practically sprinted across to her quarters like a little girl and headed straight for the shower.

Drying herself off with the towel, she made her way to her draws and opened it to find Ronon's light brown shirt sitting neatly on top. Smiling she got it out and could immediately smell him. She dropped her towel, and put it on. Leyna laughed as it was more like a short dress than a shirt with Ronon being a lot bigger than her. She headed back for the bathroom and began to brush her hair.  
Leyna realised that last night was the first time she had not had a nightmare since her brother died. She realised that with Ronon's arms around her at night, her heart felt healed and loved, and when she was alone, it felt cold and scared.

Leyna heard the door shut and walked out to see if someone was there. She stopped dead in her tracks and flushed with embarrassment as Ronon stood there, smiling with an eyebrow raised as he took in her appearance.  
"I wondered where I put that shirt." He smirked.  
"Sorry." Leyna murmured embarrassed.  
"Don't worry," He said walking up to her and wrapping his arms around her waist, "It looks good on you."  
"Thanks" she chuckled, and nuzzled into his chest.  
"I'm sorry you had to wake up without me again. I had a sparring match with Sheppard"  
Leyna rested her chin in his chest so she could look into his eyes,  
"It's ok." She said.  
"I was hoping I would be back before you woke up. I tried to shorten the sparring match."  
"Please tell me John is still in one piece?" Leyna asked in a patronizing tone. She was met with one of Ronon's smirks.  
"Define one piece." He asked. Leyna slapped him and pushed him away laughing. She turned around to walk away, only to be pulled back in by Ronon.  
"I wanted to get back into bed with you. I could lie there all day."  
"Until something exciting comes up." She challenged him playfully and he laughed.  
"Of course" He grinned.

"I need to go to the Infirmary" Leyna said in all seriousness, "Jenifer is to check my brand."  
Sadness filled Leyna with memories of Rikell burning her flesh, and Ronon's broken face as her screams filled the air. She felt Ronon stiffen and she was sure he was remembering it too.  
"I'll come with you." He said and she smiled, silently thanking him.  
After she changed into something more acceptable, they made their way to the Infirmary. Passersby gave her wide grins as they spotted Ronon next to her, making her a little bit uncomfortable.  
It pleased her as Ronon grabbed her hand and they walked most of the way in a relaxed silence.  
Reaching the infirmary, Jenifer was surprised to see them hand in hand, but her shock was soon replaced with great happiness and she ushered Leyna to an empty bed.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Dr Keller asked, finishing her check up.  
Ronon stood up hesitantly, his eyes staring heavily on Leyna.  
"Good." She sighed.  
"Well good news is you have completely healed up." Leyna was relieved she no longer had to tend to the wound on her back, as well as worry about it getting wet.  
" The bad news, " Keller continued, "Is that is has scarred quite graphically."  
"What does that mean?" Ronon asked worried.  
"The scar the brand has left behind is very detailed. It's like it is drawn onto her skin. Usually a brand has rough or fuzzy edges; this one is very sharp and clear."  
Leyna looked down to her toes hanging off the side of her bed, and sighed as she let the news sunk in. The Andorran symbol for 'traitor' was clearly marked forever on her shoulder blade, clear as day for everyone to see.  
She felt soft hands gently lift her chin up, and her eyes locked onto Ronon's. He wanted to know what she was thinking.  
"Will it bother you?" She asked, and then regretted her choice of words. Ronon's face became twisted with confusion and hurt.  
"Do you really think that I would care about a scar like that?"  
She knew his years as runner gave him many scars, and that they all held a painful memory he wanted to forget. But thanks to Rodney, he no longer had to look at those scars, or even feel them for that matter.  
"I know you won't care, but it's just you were there when it happened. You know what it means."  
A tear slid down her face as she spoke.  
"When you see that scar, feel it or even remember it, know that it does not mean that you are the traitor. It was _your_ people that betrayed _you_. They abandoned _you_ and mistreated_ you. _Don't think of it as a painful memory. Think of it as a tribute to all that you have survived."  
She had never felt as much love for the man that stood in front of her more than this moment now. To know that he didn't hate it or cringe when he saw it made Leyna hopeful that he would stay with her forever.  
"I love you." She said clearly, not caring who was around to hear her.  
"I love you to" He smiled, equally unashamed.

_Leyna Amill to Colonel Carter's Office_ Chucks voice erupted through the intercom, _Leyna Amill to Colonel Carter's Office._

Surprise spread across her face and she looked to Ronon, who looked as shocked as she was. They made their way to the control room as Leyna swallowed a feeling of unease that rested in the pit of her stomach.

**To be continued.....**  
Please review!!!


	19. Let the Sorrow Begin Again

**Authors note:** I am very sorry for not updating sooner, however i was away on a much needed holiday :) But I'm back and feeling quite chirpy as i have written this chapter. So please review!  
Much love x

Chapter 19: Let the sorrow begin again.

_Leyna Amill to Colonel Carter's Office_Chucks voice erupted thought the intercom, Panic ripped through Leyna's stomach as she looked up to Ronon.  
They were almost to Sam's office when Leyna's eyes rested upon a red and purple bruise on Ronon's neck. Temporarily forgetting the panic in her body, she tried to stifle a laugh  
She failed.

"What?" Ronon's rough voiced asked her. There was a hint of arrogance in his voice.  
"Nothing" She laughed through her teeth. She tried to walk a little faster.  
Ronon's long legs easily matched her new pace, "What?" He asked again, looking at her expectantly.  
Leyna tried to contol her grin, "You may or may not have a red and purple imprint of my teeth on your neck." Leyna pointed to the area in question.  
Ronon stopped mid stride and his hand whipped up to his neck. His fingers began to feel the teeth marks.  
"Leyna" Ronon groaned, His eyes were dark and murderous.  
"I'm sorry!" Leyna struggled to hide her laughter, her voice shook a little too much, "I couldn't help it."  
Ronon's glare had not lifted, in fact it was deepening. Leyna composed herself and walked up to him in all seriousness.  
"Look, I said I was sorry ok? I'm sure no one will even notice." She gestured for his hand, but Ronon just huffed and walked past her. A giggle escaped her lips, and Ronon turned around sharply.  
"Not one word, you understand?" His voice full of implied warnings.  
She pretended to zip her lips and throw away an imaginary key. But when Ronon began to turn around, and her teeth on his neck came in to view again, she burst into a fit of laughter.

Ronon spun around and wrapped her in a massive bear hug. Her laughter shook him, and when she lifted her face she saw his green eyes hold no malice.  
She knew he wasn't mad as much as he was embarrassed.  
"It's not that funny" He grumbled releasing her and guiding her up the stairs.  
"I know," Leyna said as her fingers lightly traced over her teeth marks, "But it's weird. That's my teeth!"  
Ronon sighed in annoyance and pushed a giggling Leyna though to Sam's office. Her laughing didn't subside. He glanced at John sitting in the chair nodding his head in recognition.  
"No one will notice." Leyna whispered.  
John suddenly stood up as Sam and Rodney entered the room.  
"What's on your neck?" Rodney asked, his face crumpled in suspicion.  
John leaned forward squinting "Looks like teeth."  
"It's nothing." Ronon growled, Leyna bit her lip to keep from smiling, "Why are we here?" he grumbled.

"Major Lorne just contacted us saying that he and his team were approached by a woman named Maria." Sam answered, "She said that a man named Rikell is looking for a Leyna Amill, on over eighteen worlds."  
John whistled, "Someone's popular."  
Leyna gave him a sour smile.  
"She has requested a meeting with you," Sam looked at Leyna, "To discuss a pressing matter that could not wait. Something about a _latress?"_Leyna stiffened at the word. She began to feel sick.  
"Sam, I wish to meet her. Did she say where?" Leyna asked, Sam nodded.  
"She said you would know the place."  
Leyna smiled, she wrote down the coordinates for Rodney, and Sam gave them a go for the mission.

No sooner, John, Ronon, Rodney and Leyna were in a jumper.  
"Where's Teyla?" Rodney asked and groan from John did not go unnoticed.  
"For the _ump-teenth_ time, she's helping her people with the _harvest_" John stretched out the last word like he was talking to a child.  
"I thought that was two days ago?" Rodney continued.  
"She left this morning." Ronon stated incredulously, he looked like he was going to smack Rodney.  
"Huh." Rodney contemplated, and then dialled the gate.  
John looked to Leyna and then Ronon sympathetically.  
"I hope this is quick." He sighed.  
"Don't worry; I'll make it a short as possible." Leyna said with a grim tone.  
"What does latress mean?" John inquired.  
"It's Andorran. Means burial." Leyna replied almost inaudibly.  
The three men exchanged glances of worry, distress and sympathy before uncomfortably looking away into their own private space.

_**Off world -Sierra  
**_  
"How much longer?" whined Rodney.  
"We are almost there." Leyna encouraged getting out of her seat to look out the window.  
They had been in the jumper an hour after exciting the star gate on Sierra.  
"Maria and I go way back. Our families use to holiday at a small place near the borderline of Sierra and Maday, the neighbouring country. When we were young we use to go exploring a lot." Leyna smile at the memory, "We came across an abandoned house with an underground shelter. It became our secret hideout. No one ever found us. Not even Magine." Sadness returned to her heart as she spoke his name.  
She pointed to a small shack in a valley. Wedged between two enormous trees almost covering the tiny house completely.  
"You use to holiday in that?" Rodney exclaimed, unbelieving.  
Leyna smiled, "No, we use to _explore_ in that."

They landed the jumper and walked towards the house.  
Leyna knocked on the door. No one answered. She opened it and walked inside.  
"You can't just walk in!" McKay exclaimed.  
John stepping in front of him, "It's her house Rodney."  
Rodney deliberated a moment and then walked in himself. Ronon stepping in afterward,  
"No ones here." He stated dully.  
Leyna smiled and walked over to a large rug covering most of the floor. She stamped loudly three times.  
Stepping away she pulled the rug back and revealed a small square like door in the floor.  
"Cool." John stated mesmerised.  
Three soft thumps were heard and Leyna pulled the hatch up. Out walked a frazzled Maria.

* * *

Ronon raised his gun immediately and stepped towards the woman stepping out of the floor.  
"Oh Leyna!" Maria exclaimed hugging his Leyna tightly. He lowered his gun slowly.  
"Maria!" Leyna breathed. They pulled away smiling at each other.  
"I have been waiting for you for three days, I was beginning to think would never come!"  
"We came as soon as we heard." Leyna replied.  
It was then Maria noticed Ronon standing behind Leyna. As her eyes rested upon his, he felt uncomfortable. Their last encounter still crept him out.  
"It is nice to see you Ronon" She smiled, Ronon didn't wish to reply, but when he could feel Leyna gaze burn his skin, he replied with a polite "you as well."

Maria turned her attention back to Leyna and began to speak a language he did not understand.  
John stood next to him and slightly leaned towards Ronon, his body still facing the two women,  
"I take it this is Andorran."  
Ronon nodded.  
Leyna had taught him a few words, and he recognised some.  
Escape, Army, battle, family, anger, relief. His body stiffened and he grew concerned wishing he knew what they were talking about when words like, _Magine, Rikell _and_ burial _begun to be flown around into the conversation.

"Um hello?" Rodney rudely asked, with his left hand raised like a child, "Care to fill us in?"  
Leyna turned around to face them with a sad expression in her eyes. Her face looked forlorn.  
"The Andorran Army has been sent to numerous worlds in search for me. The so called 'battle' that took place for my escape caused great trauma for them. They lost a lot of men. They are very angry."  
"Teaches them for messing with my family" John stated strongly and dismissively. Leyna smiled  
"Unfortunately, they are now worried about keeping their pride and respect more than anything. The word is, I must be returned immediately for the consequences."  
Ronon's face became grim.  
'What consequences?" John asked slowly. His forehead creased, his eyes narrowed.  
"I am a traitor of my home world, and even worse, being what i am makes me the Andorran freak that attracts wraith. I must be caught, and then killed in front of the people I have supposedly betrayed."  
Ronon eyes shut. He didn't want to hear anymore. He couldn't. He wanted to mute her voice, but he was afraid if he couldn't ear her, he would lose her again.  
"Rikell is their leader, the one who you talked to?" John nodded as he remembered. Ronon stiffened at the mention of his name. Anger boiled within him like lava,  
"He is the one who has sent notifications about me. Maria has also told me that he has my brother's body and is trying to lure me in that way."  
Ronon flickered his eyes to her face and he almost groaned in pain as he saw her face. He knew her too well to understand the look in her face. She wanted to go get him. It was exactly what Rikell wanted.

"How does Maria know this?" Ronon asked, maybe she was the one trying to lure Leyna in. He began to have his doubts about Maria's intentions.  
"My family are the village healers and I am the Andorran litresser. I prepare his body for the ceremony of the ancestors. "  
"So in other words, you're the village coroner." Rodney said grimly, "Lovely."

Leyna began to feel uneasy. Despite her emotions in overdrive, she willed herself not to cry. She needed fresh air.  
Hearing Maria talk about her job and knowing she had done it to her brother, made it so much more real that he was dead.  
"Excuse me." She said calmly before heading out the door. She rushed around the back to her favourite of her childhood. It was a large oak like tree with a humongous trunk. Carved into the trunk was an amazing two seated chair. She sat in the tree seat, and her hands traced the intricate carvings on the walls around her.  
"Nice." A voice knocked her out of her day dream. She looked up to see Ronon admiring the tree seat.  
"Magine made it for me and Maria. We were always complaining there nowhere to sit and watch the stars."  
Ronon took a seat next to her and grabbed her hand. She smiled at his large frame being too big for the hollowed out tree.  
"Could have made it a bit bigger though." He smiled.  
"We were only children" She smiled back.

Her face fell as she stared into his emerald eyes. His smile faltered and he looked away.  
"No." Was all he said.  
"You don't even know what I was going to say!"  
"I can tell, I know you. And I know what I would do. But it's too dangerous Leyna. I won't risk it"  
"I need to get his body back Ronon. I have to. He's my brother; I can't let him rot there."  
She winced at her choice of words.  
Ronon stood up, and she followed him into the middle of the grass yard. He halted and spun quickly grabbing her arms in a tight hold.  
"Maybe I wasn't making myself clear. I can't risk _you_. Not again."  
She saw the desperation in his face. Even more she understood it. She couldn't put him through that again.  
"Do you know what you're asking me to do!" she gasped,  
"Yes, but I can't- no I _won't_, let anything happen to you. Because you know it will."  
She sighed. He was right. She would fight to the death if need be.  
"Okay." She whispered. Her heart broke a little at the easy surrender.  
Ronon was here and breathing. The one alive. He was her future. Magine was her past.  
"I'm sorry." He whispered looking down  
"Don't be." She touched his cheek and walked back inside.

* * *

Ronon had never felt more aguish in his life in that moment. He had never, ever asked another warrior to give up on a cause, especially something so raw and close their heart. It was selfish of him to ask that of her. Be he did it nonetheless.

He had asked her to abandon her family. Her flesh and blood. He made her choose between her family and him. And somehow she chose him!

Never had Ronon felt more ashamed in himself as he watched her sluggish body retreat away from him.

He had no right. And yet he did.

He shouldn't have asked. And yet he did.

He didn't deserve her.

* * *

Leyna entered the house in a sour mood.  
"We have to get going." She heard John say to Maria. He gave her instructions on how to get in touch with them and left the house. She barley remembered saying goodbye to Maria. She walked subconsciously to the jumper, lost in her thoughts:  
She had never left her brother behind. But now she had. What would he think of her? Was he disappointed? Was he looking down at her from the sky, shaking her head saying, _Leyna what are you doing?! You know I can't move on to the ancestors unless my body is buried during the ceremony. What are you doing?!  
_  
But she knew that Ronon was right. She would get hurt in the process. She could just imagine how it would unfold right in front of her.  
She would get hurt then captured. Magine's body is in sight, and she has once again come so close and failed him. Ronon would then come after her to save her. He is then injured and then captured as well. He is killed right in front of her. His green eyes darken and lose their sparkle. His eyes staring up into the sky aimlessly.

Leyna shaked herself out her horrible daydream. Thought of Ronon dying because of her was more than she could take. Hysteric cries were ripping at her insides bursting to be released. She looked up and saw Ronon waiting for her at the jumper. His eyes took on a new cloud of guilt as he looked at her, and she realised she was crying. Leyna quickly wiped away her tears and smiled for him.

* * *

_**Atlantis**_

He didn't take his eyes off of her once. Through the briefing when she spoke, he noticed her lips tremble. When she didn't speak she would bite her lip, and blink a lot. Ronon noticed she was blinking back tears.  
He followed her back to her quarters; she left the door open for him. He couldn't believe how she seemed to forgive him so easily. He was still forgiving himself for asking.  
He closed the door behind him, and walked over to her on her bed.  
"Don't be afraid to be angry at me." He said hesitantly, "I would hate me to."  
"I don't hate you." She said sniffing as she sat up, "I'm just coming to terms with it"

Ronon felt like he was hit by a wraith dart as he looked at her face. Her face was clammy, Hair all tangled in a pony and frizzy from lying on a pillow. Her eyes were red and glossy and cheeks housing a waterfall of tears. This was her coming to terms with it? He couldn't bear it.  
He pulled her in a tight hug and kissed the top of her head.  
"I'll get him back for you. I Promise." He whispered, before letting her go.  
She looked confused, but his brain was in action making up a plan. He walked to his quarters and geared up again. Sword on his back, gun in hand and headed for the gate room.

He silently thanked the team for getting back late at night. This meaning Chuck was the only person in the control room. He looked over to Carter's office and sawat her captivated by the computer screen.  
"Hey Ronon," Chuck greeted him," What are you doing here?"  
"I'm really sorry about this, but i love her to much not to do it." He said before taking him gun and stunning Chuck to the floor.  
"What do you think you're doing?" Sam's voice cut in behind him.  
"I'm going to get Magine's body back."  
Sam eyes almost popped out of her head.  
"That suicide! I can't let you do that Ronon!"  
"I have to." He said his fingers twitching at the gun on his side.  
"I'm sorry, but you can't"  
"Then I'm sorry too"  
Before she could even think dodge, Ronon stunned her and sat her in an upright decision.  
"I really am sorry." He muttered and then dialled the Andorran home world.  
Running down the stairs, a cry made him stop.  
"Ronon no!"  
He turned around to see Leyna almost hanging over the control room balcony,  
He began to walk backwards toward the star gate, his eyes never leaving her panic striken face.  
"I can't let you go, but I won't let him stay there either. I'll get him back for you."  
"You'll die!" she all but screamed.  
"I'll die trying. Die the man you love."  
He was at the star gate now. Just inches from the horizon.  
He watched as she began to run towards the stairs. He stepped back into the wormhole.  
The last thing he saw of Atlantis was Leyna running down the stairs, looking like an angel in her nightgown, shouting for him not to go.

**To be continued....**


	20. A Chain of Events

Chapter 20: Chain of events

"I'll get him back for you. I Promise." Ronon whispered, before letting her go.  
Leyna was confused. Didn't he just say they couldn't go for him? That it's practically a suicide mission?  
She stared after him as the door closed to her quarters. Shaking her head, she let the wave of lethargy sweep over her. She curled up into a small ball on her bed and closed her eyes.

But Ronon's face would not get out of her head. His eyes had turned into look of determination, and then suddenly it hit her. She sat up in her bed, and racked her brain for the proof she knew was hidden somewhere in her head.

'I won't risk _**you'**_, he had said.

_**'You **_will die'.

_**'I'll **_get back for you'.

Leyna gasped as she realised in horror, his twisted plan.  
Not once did he say that it wasn't safe for him to go. He never said that he would leave Magine's body there, just that she couldn't go to retrieve him herself.  
She knew Ronon would never risk another man's life for a mission so impossible that the chance of survival was 100 to 1.  
He was going alone.

Her heart thumped a million miles an hour as she ran to her dresser to put on some clothes. Her thin nightgown was very short. She looks out her window and saw the night sky.  
Hardly anyone would still be walking around.  
"Shit" she huffed throwing her clothes to the floor. She ran as fast as her legs could take her, not giving a damn about the occasional passer by. She felt like her heart was tied to her chest and being dragged behind her. It weighed a ton.

She reached the control room as inhailed deeply as she saw Chuck and Sam's bodies lying on the floor. She ran over to Sam and checked her pulse. It was still strong. She was only stunned. A ripple of blue reflected off the walls around her and she realised that the ring was open. She sspun around and ran for the balcony.  
"Ronon no!" She screamed. The balcony halted her abruptly. She almost went over.  
His large frame froze at bottom of the stairs and slowly turned around. His eyes were pained yet determined. He began walking backward towards the star gate.  
"I can't let you go. But I won't let him stay their either. I'll get him myself" he said strongly.  
A small part of her heart felt relief, hope, even happiness. But the rest of her silenced it quickly with fearand pain.

"You'll die!" she almost choked. Her tears were pouring down, she didn't even bother to wipe them away.  
"Then I'll die trying. Die the man you love."  
Her heart fell so far she lost track, and her stomach lurched and she felt queezy.  
She ran to the stairs and tried to stay up right dispite her diziness.  
"NO!" She screamed as Ronon took a final step into the wormhole.  
She reached the bottom of the stairs and began to run for the still open wormhole.  
"Leyna!" another voice warned.  
She was so close to stepping though when large arms wrapped around her, pulling her away.  
"Let him go Leyna!" the deep voice tried to tell her. Fury arose within her as she turned to she who had prevented her from going through.  
It was John.

Just then the wormhole disengaged and with it Ronon.  
A mixture of screams and crying poured out of her chest as her legs buckled underneath her. Her arms reached for the once blue star gate, as John fell to the ground with her.  
His attempts to clam her failed as she only wailed louder. People came to see what the noise was, but she didn't care.  
As John got a better hold of her, he wrapped her in a tight embrace, tucking her head into his chest. She felt little comfort.  
"Is she okay?" Came a puffed and worried voice. It was McKay.  
"What does it look like?" John's angry voice retorted, "I need to see if Sam and Chuck are okay. You need to hold her."  
"What?" McKay's voiced thickened.  
"Get over here!" John shouted.  
Leyna felt John's arms loosen and then be replaced by McKay's unsure ones. She looked at Rodney who looked horrified as he saw her face, and she then turned to John,  
"He's gone to get Magine! He's going to die!"  
She burst into cries again and Rodney held her close to her. She clutched his shoulders muffling her cries into his chest.  
"Oh I just washed this shirt!" She heard McKay complain.  
"I'm sure you'll get over it." John's distant voice shouted, "Try to calm her down."  
A strangled _umm_ came from Rodney and she herself wondered how in the world she could calm down.

"_Hush little Leyna don't you cry_," McKay's horrible singing erupted her cries, she heard laughter around her,

_"Rodney's gonna teach you the meaning of pie._" Her crying began to quieten.

"_And if you don't understand a thing, Rodney's gonna teach you how to open the ancestral ring_" Leyna stopped crying, and smiled into his chest.

_"And maybe I can teach you some equations too"_ Leyna chuckled as John finished Rodney's twisted song and knelt down smiling sadly.  
"Come here" he opened his arms, "I'll take you back to bed." Leyna wrapped her arms around John as he lifted her up by her knees. The crowd parted with sad and worried looks as John carried Leyna to her room. Despite the comfort she felt in John arms, her heart longed to be in the arms of her warrior.

"But John is gonna save you before he does that to you"

* * *

_**Andorra**_

Ronon stepped out of the ringand turned abruptly drawing his gun. Switching it from stun to blast, he surveyed the surroundings and quickly ran for cover. He heard voices.  
Taking cover behind a tree, men surrounded the stargate with weapons drawn. He prayed Leyna didn't come through. He was suddenly in a frenzy that she was going to jump though in nothing but night gown.  
He breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the star gate shut down. Turning around, he made his way through the forest parallel to the road leading toward the village. His years as a runner gave him knowledge that most people would never know. Including the sings of a trap or any signs of movement. He would smile smugly to himself as he walked around one trap after another.

_Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen_. Jeeze these people were nothing if not thorough.  
Eventually he was at the edge of the village boarder. Ronon nestled into the ground and waited for the woman he wanted to come into view. As time passed by, he took note of how many men guarded the village. They patrolled the borders poorly, but they did it none the less.  
Ronon figured they would have most men out on other worlds, as Leyna was stupid to ever come back. Although Ronon knew that could take on the guards in view easily.  
Ronon's eyes rested upon the barn that sent shivers down his spine. It was the prison that he and Leyna had been held in. His stomach churned as the memories unwillining replayed in his head.  
Suddenly the barn door opened and out came the woman he was looking for.  
Ronon watched as Maria made her way across the village courtyard and into a small hut. He smiled and made his way around to the edge of the forest behind the hut where Maria entered. He waited until nightfall.

When it grew dark, it proved difficult getting to the hut as the men began to walk around on timed patrols. They were like clockwork. Ronon was almost caught seven times as he would thought that when the disappeared, that would be it. But another pair would come around just as quick. He was getting frustrated. This was going to take all night.  
Eventually he got to Maria's hut and looked into the window. He went to see if it would open, and surprisingly it was. He opened it and tried to climb in. He began to panic when his shoulders would not fit through. The men would walk around any minute.  
"I left the door open for you silly. Why are you climbing in the window?"  
Maria's voice shocked him as she walked into the room looking at Ronon confused.  
He quickly pulled out of the window, shut it and made his way carefully around the front and into the door.  
"Wasn't that easier?" Maria smirked.  
Ronon scowled at her, "You knew I was coming?"  
"Well I didn't think it would be _you._ I thought Leyna would be here instead. But I was hoping at least someone caught my drift earlier today." She smiled.  
He suddenly understood why Maria talked to Leyna in Andorran in front of them first. She was probably implying a plan of some sort.  
"What do you have in mind?" he asked.

* * *

John paced the gate room with great speed.  
Back and forth, up and down until finally the ring began to activate.  
"Off world activation!" Chucks voice came from the control room, "Its Teyla's IDC."  
"Bout time." John muttered to himself.  
He left Leyna in her room with Rodney, but John thought she needed someone she was closer to for comfort.  
"John" Teyla's worried voice filled his ears. He looked up and tried to smile as he watched her practically run through the ring and across the gate room holding Torren.  
"I came as soon as I heard. Where is she?"  
"In her room with McKay." John replied walking with her.  
"So he just left? Without saying a word to anyone?" Teyla questioned him, "Not even you?"  
"No. Not even me" he replied dully.

In truth, John was hurt that Ronon had not come to him. He thought they had an understanding, as well as a very good friendship, and John expected at least some kind of invitation. John would have gone with him in a heartbeat. He mentally slapped himself for not seeing it sooner. He should have known Ronon would have tried to do something. If Leyna was in possible danger, then Ronon would defiantly do anything and everything he could to eliminate that threat. Even if it meant his own death.

They reached Leyna's room and as soon as he opened it, they were practically assaulted by a pleading McKay.  
"Oh thank god! What took you so long?" he shouted at Teyla, "I've been in here for almost an hour! First she wouldn't stop wailing, and screaming, then she just cried, and then.... she just stopped. She's been sitting there at the window staring at nothing for half an hour. She hasn't said a word. She won't even look at me! Can i go now?"  
John knew that Rodney's cared for Leyna as much as they did.  
"Go." John said and a grateful Rodney thanking him and ran away.

"She is worse than I thought." Teyla said in a low murmur.  
John looked to Leyna, who was sitting at the window staring out into the ocean. Her face was tear streaked and her eyes were hard. Every now and then her mouth would quiver and he saw her tighten her facial features. She was clutching one of Ronon's shirts.  
"Leyna, it's me Teyla." John watched as Teyla slowly approached her, holding Torren as far away as she could on her hip, "Look who I brought to see you."  
Leyna didn't move. John wondered if she even heard her, but when Teyla rearranged Torren so that he was facing Leyna, and Torren reached out and touched her arm, Leyna's eyes flickered to the little boy. Her face softened and a small smile began to form on her lips.  
It was then that he saw all the pain in Leyna's heart. As she looked to the baby in front of her, her eyes formed knew tears and her cheeks were again flooding. She reached out to touch him and Teyla handed Torren over with a sad smile of her own.  
This was too much for John. He suddenly sympathised with Rodney as a thick ball of mucus formed in his throat. He need to retreat.  
"I'm going to go see how Sam's doing. I'll leave you guys alone." He said noticing Teyla acknowledge him before walking as swiftly as he could out the door.

* * *

"What do you mean you don't know where he is?" Ronon seethed.  
He had come all this way thinking that Maria had full access to Magine's body. Maria backed into a table behind her. Fear showing in her eyes.  
"Do not raise your voice. They will hear you." She whispered hardly. That was the last thing on his mind.  
"I thought you saw Magine regularly to do stuff to his body?" he asked. Maria nodded.  
"I replace organs with organic materials and polish their skin with herbs extracts. It allows his body to last a long period of time without rotting. I finished that processon Magine one week ago."  
"Then why did I come here?" Ronon was about to explode. He put Leyna through all this for _nothing_?  
"I do not know why _you_ came here." She said accusingly. "I told Leyna that it would take some time to locate his body."  
So Leyna knew that she would be gone a for a while. She knew that Maria didn't know where he was at the moment.  
"How are we supposed to find him?" he asked. He was going straight back to Atlantis if she didn't have a reasonable plan.  
"I didn't complete the proper procedures i usually do. This will mean the Magine's body will begin to deteriorate in a few months. Rikell will have no choice but to come back to me. It is then that I propose we strike."  
His eyes popped open. Did she just say _months_? Could he give word to Leyna so she knew he was ok? He could just turn back now, and just tell her he did his best. But he would have to live with knowing that he left a man behind. The brother of his lover, dead in the woods, with a man who saw him as a traitor.

_No_, Ronon thought, _He __**will**__ have a proper burial, and he __**will**__ leave this world with honour. _"Fine. I'll stay. But you must do something for me for every month that passes. Starting from tomorrow."  
Maria nodded.

* * *

John was waiting in the gate room with a team of Marines to go off world. He knew it was a waste of time looking for Ronon, but Sam insisted. He and Lorne waited for the gate to open when he heard his name being called.  
"Teyla." He greeted as she walked up to him, "You sure you don't want to join us?"  
Teyla cocked an eyebrow, giving him a look that told him she knew as well as he did it was a waste of time. John sighed.  
"How is she?" Lorne asked from behind him.  
"She is doing better. Her crying has stopped, and for now my son is distacting her. But i am not sure how long that will last." Teyla's face became furrowed and worried. She was leaving something out.  
"What is it?" John asked, knwing her too well.  
"She is taking his depature as a punishment from the ancestors. She thinks that because she left Magine to die in the first place, the ancestors are taking Ronon away from her. She is shouldering the balme greatly. It is difficult for me to be strong for her."_  
_John put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, McKay is going to take over after you decide to leave."  
"I'm what?!" Mackay shrieked, pushing his way through the marines, "You can't do that to me! I had to do endure all her screaming and crying! That should give me a guilt free pass of not being her walking tissue for at least a week!"  
John smiled "I was just kidding. I'll come and relieve you after we get back Teyla."  
He heard McKay sigh and mutter something he couldn't quite hear. The gate suddenly opened and Teyla took her departure.  
"Alright let's move out!"

_**Sierra**_

John thought that if they had to start somewhere it would be at the little shack they rendezvoused with Maria yesterday. He sent McKay with Marines to the hut, while he and Lorne's team searched the village where they first met Magine.

* * *

McKay tried to focus on everything but the very reason they were there. He didn't want to think about Ronon missing or Leyna in so much pain.  
Especially Leyna. When he had to calm her, his heart was jumping out of his chest. Her ear piercing screams were sending shivers down his back. He felt guilty about the relief he felt when John carried her away, but it hurt Rodney too much to witness Leyna's downfall. Rodney knew that Leyna would never fully return to the Leyna they all loved if Ronon died. And he also knew that Ronon probably wouldn't survive as Rodney remembers what Ronon was up against.  
"Dr. McKay!" a marine shouted from outside. Rodney ran out the back to a huge hollowed out tree.  
"What is it?" he asked, desperately hoping for something.  
"I found this note." A Marine said.

_Every month I will send word here at this tree.  
For now I am fine.  
Have faith.  
Ronon._

Did he say month?  
Rodney reread the note, and sighed as his eyes did not lie. He was planning to be away for a while.  
Reluctantly he radioed Sheppard.  
"Are you it's from him?" John asked. Rodney almost groaned in annoyance.  
"Well judging by lack of utensils used and the caveman writing, I would say yes."  
Why did John always second guess him? Surely he had to have a little credit of being able to understand what a clue meant.  
"Okay, come back. We're going home. Sheppard out."  
"Oh thank God. My feet are killing me." Rodney complained. It was true, his heels were throbbing.  
As he sat down in the jumper, he realised he was sweating. He suddenly found himself wondering if there was any way they could install an air conditioner in the jumpers.

* * *

"Leyna?" a voice came from behind her. She didn't turn around to greet them. She was not in the mood.  
"I err... was wondering if you could come down to the infirmary for a little bit."  
She finally turned as saw Dr. Keller smiling with an anxious look on her face. She didn't want to go anywhere. She looked to Teyla, hoping she didn't say anything to Jenifer. She didn't want any sleeping pills. She didn't want to sleep, but Teyla looks just as surprised.  
"No. I am fine."  
"I know you are. It's just i finally got around to checking the results from you latest blood test, you know the one I did about five days ago? Well you seemed to umm, have some... abnormalities. I want to take another one just to be sure."  
Leyna felt herself begin to panic. What was wrong with her? Was she sick? What if she died before Ronon came back? She would never see him again.  
"Don't worry! I don't want to upset you. It's nothing harmful. I'm sure it's nothing. But I just want to be sure."  
Leyna nodded and walked from the bed to the door following Dr. Keller.  
Teyla's arm brushed against her.  
"Leyna, I heard the Colonel has just returned. I am going to put Torren to bed, and then I will bring John to you."  
Leyna wanted to sprint to the gate room right then, but a firm hand from Jenifer guided her in the opposite direction. She had no energy to fight.

Jenifer guided her to the infirmary where she took blood right away. She also took a urine sample, making Leyna confused and afraid. She wanted Ronon by her side to tell her everything would be ok. A cold feeling swept over her.  
Jenifer hurried away determined to get the results as quickly as possible. She said it wouldn't take long like the blood test did, now that she knew what she was looking for.

After about half an hour of waiting by herself John, Teyla and Rodney entered the infirmary.  
"Anything?" Leyna whispered. She didn't want to get her hopes up.  
"He left a note." John said, holding up a piece of brown material between his fingers.  
Leyna's eyes widened as she took the note from John and read it. She smiled. He was okay.  
"Ronon's a big boy." John reassured, "He'll get you brother back."  
"I know he will." Leyna answered.  
If there was one thing she was sure about, it was Ronon. Relying on the fact he didn't die, she knew he would bring Magine home.

"Leyna?" Jenifer's small voice came from behind Rodney. It sounded unsure and hesitant.  
Leyna's stomach filled with anxiety, she knew something was wrong. So did everyone else.  
John sat next to her on the bed, arm tightly wrapped around her, Teyla stood on her other side and grabbed her hand. Rodney just stood still, eyes wide like a child lost in a supermarket.  
"What is it?" Leyna asked, unable to keep her voice even.  
"I did every test I could; I rechecked it and asked you to come in for more tests. I'm sorry but there is no denying it anymore"  
"What's wrong with her?" John asked more forcibly  
Jenifer looked at him with tired eyes, her sleepless nights were making themselves known.  
"There is nothing wrong with her at all, in fact she is perfectly healthy. It's just that I know now is maybe the worst possible time to tell you. Especially seeing as the father isn't here."  
Leyna's eyes shot up as she mentioned the word _Father_ and instantly she knew. She felt John stiffen beside her.  
"Leyna, you're pregnant."

_**To be continued....**_

**Authors Note:** I know some of you are probably thinking why the hell is she pregnant? But i mean, i can't pass up a preganacy plot!  
Let me assure you i do not like mushy mushy stories and not everything is going to be sunshine and daisy's IF Ronon returns.  
I have an ending that none of you will EVER see comming. Stay tuned :D  
Please reveiw and tell me what you think!


	21. Out of the bag

_**Authors note: **_this is more like a filler chapter. I hope you not dissappointed :)

Chapter 21: Out of the bag.  
_  
Four months Later _"Any word?"  
Leyna sat down in the mess hall next to a grumpy Rodney and a smiling John. Obviously they were having one of their famous quibbles again.  
"Nope," John replied turning to Leyna, "Were going tomorrow."  
"Dammit." Leyna muttered, "I forgot to get food."  
"Not to worry!" Major Lorne said from behind her, "I brought you a tray"  
Leyna smiled as the Major took a seat next to John and pushed a tray of food in front of her.  
"Thankyou very much" She thanked him warmly, digging in to the food. She smiled as Teyla joined them.  
Ever since people found out she was pregnant, she was being waitied on left right and centre.

Leyna felt the warmth of her family surround her. She smiled as she looked around the table, but her smile fell as soon as she remembered the vital person that was missing.  
She was dying to go off world; she had never spent four months straight in the one city before. It was fun for the first few weeks, as she would explore the city, but after a while every corridor looked the same, and every new room held no interest to her. Her mind kept wandering to one person.

"Would I be able to go with you?" Leyna wondered out loud, the table froze and looked at her.  
"I don't really think that's a good idea." John said slowly, "It didn't work out so well for Teyla."  
Leyna remember being told about when Teyla was pregnant with Torren. She was kidnapped by Michael when John had finally agreed to let her go off world. Luckily, they got to her just in time.  
"And I don't think that Rodney is planning on delivering anyone babies" John smiled as Rodney squirmed in his seat. She heard Teyla chuckle.  
"Besides," Teyla said, placing a gentle hand on her belly. "You are a lot larger than I was at 5 months."

It was true. As Leyna looked down to her protruding stomach, she placed a hand over Teyla's and gave her small smile. She was fairly large for 20 weeks, Jenifer said it was more like she was six months pregnant at least. Everyone teased her saying it was what you get for having Ronon's baby.  
"Okay, I'm going to the gym" She asked standing up.  
"Rodney it's your day today." She heard John mutter.

Leyna frowned. She was well aware that they had made some sort of roster for looking after her. They only time she had time to herself was in her sleep.  
"Rodney, you do not have to go with me." Leyna challenged, Rodney's eyes filled with hope, but faltered when he noticed John glaring at him.  
"No it's fine; I was going to go for some exercise anyway." Rodney almost groaned.  
"That's it." She huffed, "I won't stand for this, I'm pregnant, not on suicide watch."  
The table started at her with stunned eyes. She sighed.  
"It's not that I don't appreciate it, but I need my space."  
"We're just trying to look after you." John defended,  
"I know, but there is a certain point, that you need to stop. The only thing i want right now is Ronon, but seeing as I know that won't happen, I'll settle for time alone. So Rodney, don't worry, I will go to the gym by myself," She noticed John about to but in," and I wont over do it. I'll be fine." She said pointing a finger to John.

She turned around and headed towards the gym. Marines consumed the gym floor and Leyna hopped on an exercise bike and watched them spar. She picked up pace until she began to work up a sweat, and then slowed back down again.  
"Need some company?" She jerked around to find John standing next to her, a guilty look on his face.  
Leyna sighed, "If you must. I'm surprised you've left me alone for this long."  
"Well actually, I've been hiding in the corner."  
Leyna looked to John, hoping that he was joking, his guilty expression growing.  
"Your unbelievable!" Leyna exclaimed,  
"Ronon would kill me if he ever found out I left you alone for even a second." He defended  
"When."  
"Excuse me?"  
"_When_ he finds out. He is coming back" Leyna clarified. She wasn't not going to start talking about Ronon in past tense.  
"Oh yea, sorry." John stuttered. There was an awkward silence as the Marines finished their gym session and filed out of the gym. She was aware of John's gaze on her as she tried her best to compose her forlorn face.  
"Well I'll make you a deal." John said helping her off the bike, "I'll spar with you, if you don't tell Ronon _when _he comes back."  
Leyna grinned widely, "You have a deal."

* * *

Rodney and Teyla made their way to the gym where he hoped Leyna still was. He felt guilty for not going with her.  
"What's wrong?" Teyla asked him  
"Do you think he'll do it?" he asked quietly, Teyla knew what he meant.  
"I have no doubt that Ronon will come back alive." She said carefully, her face hard.  
"Yea but do you think he'll come back with Magine's body?"  
Teyla's face fell, "That I am unsure of."  
That made him feel uneasy. Teyla was always the one to reassure everyone in the time of doubt. If Teyla was lost for words, he was surely done for.  
Just then they entered the Gym to find Leyna and John in the middle of a sparring match. Rodney's eyes fell of Leyna swollen stomach.  
"What the hell are you doing?!"

John's face whipped to him and Teyla standing in the doorway, his eyes were wide like a deer in the headlights. Just then Leyna spun with grace and whacked John right in the chest. John toppled over and again Leyna spun hitting John's back with the bantos rods. Rodney felt a little guilty as John lay gasping on the floor.  
"Thanks Rodney." He gasped,  
Leyna and Teyla were laughing and Rodney walked to his side helping him up.  
"Are you aware that that huge bulge on her stomach contains a baby!" he scolded, John looked up at him with anger.  
"Oh really? I thought it was just full of air." John looked mad, but Rodney didn't know if it was from him or getting beaten by a pregnant woman, nevertheless he stepped back.  
"Well I was just saying." He stuttered.  
"Rodney relax," Teyla's arm gently squeezed his shoulder, "When I was pregnant, I would spar with Ronon."  
Rodney's eyes grew wide but Teyla only smiled, "And as far as i know, Torren is as healthy as ever."  
He heard Leyna hold back a laugh from behind John.  
What was wrong with these people? Obviously they didn't care what the baby turned out like. But then again, it did have Ronon's genes so that may be a moot point.  
"Fine, but if your baby," Rodney huffed, pointing a finger at Leyna, "comes out with bruises and a square head, don't say I didn't warn you!"

Rodney stormed out of the gym, listening to the laughing behind him.  
_Honestly, _he thought_, people with average minds are simply unbelievable.  
_Leyna laughed as Rodney stormed out of the gym. She turned to Teyla.  
"Did he really spar with you?" she wondered.  
"Yes." Teyla said, still laughing, "Although he did go easy on me."  
"Now I don't feel so bad." John groaned, rubbing his chest.  
"Thank you John, really. It was just what I needed." Leyna said honestly.  
"Glad I could help. But I'm going to go get some sleep before we leave tomorrow."  
Leyna bit her lip. It was nagging her to no end, but she didn't want to push him.  
"What?"he asked, his voice guarded.  
"Can I please go with you?" she heard John groan, "I won't be any trouble I Promise, and it will be different than how it was with Teyla. I don't have any hybrid wraith after me. I'll be able to sense any immediate danger; I just need to go off world. That place is so secluded. No one even knows it's there!"  
She was just about to go on her knees when John turned towards her.  
"Fine, you can go. BUT, you stay in the jumper, you understand?"  
She all but jumped in John's arms, squealing as she hugged him tightly. She kissed his cheek.  
"Thank you so much." She squeaked before running off to bed before John could take it back.

* * *

The next morning, Teyla had woken her up and walked her to get geared up.  
Seeing as the vest didn't fit and her stomach was too large for the normal black pants she wore on missions, she wore dark brown pants Sam had shipped from earth with an elastic band at the front, with a beautiful light brown shirt that hugged her growing breasts, but loosely hung over her bulging stomach. She wore a long black leather cloak over the top, to hide small knifes in small places, just like Ronon had taught her. Strapping a gun to her thigh, she and Teyla walked tho the jumper bay.  
"Leyna?" Lorne said in surprise, looking to John for answers.  
"I said she could come." He sighed, "She's going to stay with you in the jumper."  
Lorne's face turned from confusion to excitement, "Well alright then."

Leyna took a seat behind Teyla, she noticed they were missing someone.  
"Where is Rodney?"  
"He's working with Zalenka today. Besides, if he was coming, you wouldn't be." John stated, positioning the jumper in front of the open stargate.  
"Why not?"  
"Well after last night, if he found out I let you go on this mission, I'll be a dead man when Ronon gets back."  
"What happened last night?" Lorne asked mischievously. John didn't answer.  
"We sparred." Leyna said, and smiled as Lorne burst out laughing.  
"Yea, you're a dead man buddy." He chuckled, slapping John on the shoulder.

_**Half an hour later. **_"Alright. Leyna stay here and keep an eye of the jumper, Lorne stay here and keep an eye on Leyna." John said walking out the jumper with Teyla.  
"Can I go outside?" Leyna asked hopefully,  
"No!" She heard John shout from far away. She sat down and began to sulk like a child.  
"Very mature." Lorne chuckled. She silenced him with a deadly look.

* * *

Ronon had just finished pinning the material with his note on it to the tree when he heard voices.  
He cussed and ran in to the trees across the yard. Usually Maria was the one to deliver the note, but just as they had assumed, Rikell had contacted her, saying he needed her to look at Magine's body. They were so close. Maria said to wait and deliver the note in a few days. However they always delivered the note at the same day every month, and he didn't want to cause Leyna any unnecessary worry. Ronon figured that seeing as he was stuck hiding in Maria's home, he would deliver the note.

Ronon smiled widely as John and Teyla came into view walking to the tree. As much as he didn't like to admit it, he missed them terribly. He looked Teyla over, and thought she was as radiant as she always was, he missed their sparring. As he looked John over however, he noticed the dark circles beginning to form under his eyes, he looked tried, even angry.  
He kept waiting for the others to come, for Leyna to come, but they didn't.  
She didn't.  
It seemed unusual that she wouldn't be with them.  
_Was she sick? Had she left Atlantis thinking that Ronon was most certainly dead? Or maybe she was just at the jumper.  
_Ronon remembered how someone usually stayed behind._  
_Ronon slowly extracted himself from the garden as Teyla and John found his note and made his way to the jumper. He saw the front of the it, and could see Leyna's blonde hair but the reflection from the glass was too strong. He carefully made his way around to find a spot in the shrubbery that had view of the back of the puddle jumper.

She was standing with her back to him, hands on her hips around her long black cloak. He felt an urge to walk out and touch her silky blonde hair. It was longer than when he had last seen her, and more wavy. He wanted her to turn around. He felt an urge to walk in there and kiss her, he missed her so much, but he was aware of Lorne sitting across from her. He listened into their conversation.  
"Can I go outside?"  
"For the last time no! The colonel will kill me."  
"But it's so hot. I want to feel a breeze. Come on you can't keep me cooped up in here in my condition can you?"

Why was she asking for permission to go outside? And what did she mean in her condition?  
He heard Lorne sigh and then stood in front of her,  
"Fine, 5 minutes."  
Lorne walked out of the jumper with Leyna behind her. He wished Lorne would move out the way.  
As soon as Leyna walked out of stride with Lorne, Ronon had to stop himself from gasping as he took in Leyna's large belly.  
She was pregnant. _His_ Leyna was pregnant.  
His first instinct was who the hell did this to her? He was in a mad fit of jealous rage. But as he looked at Leyna again, he noticed that she was too big. There was only one explanation that seemed to fit.  
_He_ had done this to her. It was _his_ baby.  
_**His.**_

Ronon fell back against a tree as he watched Leyna walk around the puddle jumper. He was in a trance. He watched as Lorne followed her everywhere she went, and he smiled as she would draw circles around her stomach and talk to her belly like it could hear her. He was unable to think of anything but Leyna. Guilt washed over him as he not only realised that he had cause her pain, but had left her pregnant. He began to worry that if he returned she might not _want_ him back.  
He wanted, no needed to talk to her.  
Just as he was about to walk out from his hiding, John and Teyla returned. Leyna froze as she spotted them, she looked at John expectantly.

"What the hell are you doing outside the jumper?" John bellowed.  
Lorne stepped in front of her, "That was my fault sir. It was getting hot in the jumper, she needed fresh air."  
Ronon smiled as Sheppard mumbled something to himself, and then nodded and handed her the note. His heart melted as Leyna's face lit up an smiled as she read it.  
"You can read it in side, we're going. Ronon would kill me if was seeing this."  
Ronon chuckled to himself, but stopped when Teyla's head whipped towards the trees. Her eyes suspiciously scanned the forest.  
"I agree, let's go." She ushered Leyna into the jumper. Eyeing the forest one last time before the hatch closed.

When the jumper left, he was still in shock. He began his long journey to the ring in a trance. The picture of Leyna in his head burned deeply. She was just as beautiful as he had remembered. He also thought about John, and the team. He felt guilty for leaving without saying goodbye. Especially to John, he knew Sheppard would have left with him. But seeing Leyna, he was glad that John was with her instead. Sheppard was the one of the people he trusted most to look after Leyna.

It was night when he finally returned home to Maria's. When he snuck in, she threw a fit at him. She thought he was captured and was about to go looking for him. She almost yelled that she could have been caught herself, and been arrested for treason.  
"She's pregnant." Ronon muttered, and then Maria was screaming for a different reason.  
She began crying tears of joy, hugging him and congratulating him. Ronon felt a smile begin to twitch at the corner of his mouth.  
"I have some more good news." Maria said, the smile spreading wider across her face. Ronon looked up at her expectantly.  
"The ancestors have blessed us with the most wonderful luck. I saw Rikell today, and as I suspected Magine's body is beginning to deteriorate. Naturally, Rikell is frustrated that Leyna hasn't come from him yet, so he wants me to come back tomorrow and do the process all over again. Don't you see Ronon? Tomorrow is our chance! I'll have full access to his body. This will all be over!"

For the first time in four months, Ronon felt happy.  
For the first time in four months Ronon felt hope.  
_I'm coming Leyna,_ he thought, _I'm coming._

**_To be continued...  
Please reveiw!_**


	22. Return

Chapter 22: Return

Ronon ran as fast as his legs could take him. This part of the plan was not going too well. He rested behind a tree, panting loudly and grabbed his arm. Blood poured out of the wound and trickled down to his fingers. He felt woozy.  
"This way." A voice hissed. Ronon whipped his head around to a man standing about 10 feet away.  
It was Lorell, Maria's husband. He pushed himself off the tree and followed the man until they got to a small vent in the ground. Lorell lifted the vent off and climbed in. Ronon reluctantly followed and was lead through a vast underground tunnel. It reminded him of the Genii.  
"Ronon!" Maria's voice echoed through the tunnel.  
She ran to him and gabbed his arm. She looked at him with disapproval before ushering him to a room where her grandmother lived.

It had been a month since he had seen Leyna. A month since he had seen her pregnant belly carrying his child. Every night he went to sleep her face flickered on like a light bulb, preventing him from dreaming safely. His dreams were vivid and clear and they all ended in the same way.  
Her death.  
Ronon had been very moody as of late, and he had no doubt this was why. He would constantly dream of various ways of her dying. And he would wake up full of anger, sadness and pain.

When he returned from Sierra that day, after delivering the note to Leyna, Maria had informed him that Rikell was returning with Magine's body. Maria had also told him that because she was helping them; her family would suffer because of her betrayal. Seeing as Maria's family consisted of only her husband, her grandmother and herself, Ronon suggested that they move and return to Atlantis with him. They found an underground tunnel big enough for an army of soldiers. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do. Within a week, the village was in an uproar of the whereabouts of the family's new home, and then in a further two weeks, word had it that RIkell had returned to Andorra. This brought us to the events of today, when Ronon made his first attempt to get Magine's body.

He was almost to the village; he could see the barn in front of him. He also saw the man he had been dying to kill since the day where he and Leyna were captured.  
There, standing as tall and smug as ever, was Rikell surrounded by eight heavily armed men. Ronon felt a red haze blur his vision as anger set itself deep into his bones. He took an unconscious step forward, and then another, and then another.  
A twig cracked under his foot, and he was caught off guard as a distinct ripping made its way to his ears.  
_Crap_, Ronon thought as he dived to the ground.  
Just as his body thumped on the floor, a blade sliced his arm deeply. Hissing in pain, he rolled over to see the trap he allowed himself to miss.  
An axe swung widely on a rope between two trees, and Ronon muttered his stupidity to himself.  
Voices were shouting from the village and Ronon jumped up and ran from the village.

This was the reason as to why he was now sitting in front of Maria's healer grandmother, hissing in pain as she put herb extracts on his deep wound, in an underground tunnel.  
"I told you, you cannot just go and get him." Maria scolded, "Rikell may be arrogant, but he is not stupid."  
Ronon glared her, unleashing his anger and his frustration on her at once. She was taken back for a moment, but regained her composure and stared back at him just as hard. Ronon felt nauseas as he realised Leyna would do the same thing. It reminded of him of just how much he missed her, and missed his home.

"We," Maria emphasised, "Will try again tomorrow. You must get some rest."  
She turned to walk away,  
"Where are you going?" Ronon asked as she headed for the ladder to go above ground.  
Maria hesitated, before climbing up the ladder saying, "To get some fresh air."  
Ronon didn't make it known, that he had seen the note she was hiding in her left hand.

* * *

_**Sierra  
**_  
"Alright lets go." John sighed as he stood up from the tree chair. They had been waiting for three hours.  
He looked to Teyla who shared the same worried expression as they packed up for the sixth day in a row.  
The note from Ronon was a week late. They had come every day and waited for three hours but no one came, and no note was left. That only meant that Ronon was unable to write a note due to being afraid he will blow his cover, or that he was injured or worse, dead.  
"What are we going to tell her?" Rodney asked, emotion thick in his voice.  
"The truth." Teyla said strongly, although her eyes told a different story.  
John cringed at the thought of Leyna's face as they told her.

When they first went to get the note and had found nothing, John wasn't worried about going back home.  
Teyla had skilfully convinced Leyna to spend some time on the mainland with the Athosians, and she had been living with them for three weeks now. This meant that she wouldn't be back at Atlantis bouncing up and down to read the note they were suppose to have brought. But as they days went on, and they still found no note, Leyna began travelling back and forth, asking what was taking them so long. Each day she was waiting for a note. Each day she was greatly disappointed.

They boarded the jumper and were about to fly off until the screen began to beep.  
"Were picking up another life sign." Rodney exclaimed.  
"Cloaking the jumper." John stated.  
Suddenly, Maria popped out of nowhere, carrying something in her hands.  
John stood up immediately and walked out the back of the jumper.  
"Maria?" he asked,  
She whipped her head around and drew a gun. It was familiar.  
John raised his hands, and slowly walked up to her. He looked at the gun more closely, it was Ronon's.  
"Colonel Sheppard!" She panted, lowering the gun.  
'What are you doing here?" McKay's voice came from behind him.  
"I came to give you a message; I was hoping I wasn't too late. I am aware we are a week overdue."  
"It's about freakin time!" John exclaimed.  
Maria smiled and began telling him everything they had been up to in the past months. She explained that Ronon had gone to get Magine today, and that his idiocy resulted in him geting injured.  
"So what was the message?" Teyla asked,  
"I was hoping you would be able to aid us. I am afraid that Ronon will not be enough. He will die. We need help."  
John smiled, It was the best God damn news he'd heard all week.

* * *

_**Atlantis**_

Leyna sat in her room and cried until her heart could feel no more. She had returned from the mainland back to Atlantis for the sixth time in a row. She knew what everyone was thinking. She knew herself why there had been no note from her warrior.

She clutched five pieces of cloth closely. Trying not to soak them with her tears.  
She began to ley them out on the bed in order. Re reading them over and over.

The first note:  
_Every month I will send word here at this tree.  
For now I am fine.  
Have faith.  
Ronon._

The second note:_  
I'm safe. Do not worry.  
Ronon_

The third:  
_I'm still here, thinking of you.  
Always.  
Ronon_

The fourth:_  
I'm alive and well.  
I love you._

_  
_and the last note she had from him:  
_Still alive, and I still love you.  
Ronon_

She smiled at the simplicity at each of the notes, yet to her they held so much more. To her they were a long letter of memories and everything he had ever said to her.

"Oh Ronon." She whispered between tears, a little bump came from her stomach.  
Lately whenever she said his name. The infant inside her would jump and kick and fuss around.  
She smiled and rubbed her belly.  
"Hey." A voice erupted the silence.  
Leyna flew to her feet as soon as she saw John standing in the door way.  
"Anything?" She asked, her heart had stopped beating.  
"There was no note." John said, walking up to her. She felt a fresh set of tears threatening to flow.  
"But we had a very nice chat with Maria." John smiled.  
Leyna gasped as she hugged John, urging him to continue.  
"She came to us and told of their little plan. We're leaving tomorrow to help."  
Leyna's arms flung around John's neck as the waterworks broke once again.  
"I want you to go back to the mainland now. Get a good night's sleep. I'll take you myself."  
Leyna nodded and gathered the notes, following John to the Jumper Bay.

* * *

"What the hell are we waiting for?" Ronon growled. He wanted to have already left.  
"We are waiting for the right moment." Maria said nervously.  
"The right moment was three hours ago!" Ronon shouted. He stormed out of the underground tunnels.  
"Ronon wait!" Maria shouted behind him.  
"I'm not waiting any more. Either we do this now, or I go alone."  
He watched as Maria bit her lip and looked around. _What was she hiding?  
_She sighed and nodded, following Ronon towards the forests.

They stopped when the village was in sight, and watched as around forty men guarded the barn. It was a bit of a giveaway.  
"Okay here goes nothing." Maria sighed, walking out of their hiding spot.  
Ronon nodded, and watched as she was confronted by three men. They took her to Rikell. Once again Ronon's gaze turned red as the anger boiled within him. The smug bastard was smiling at Maria, Ronon cursed under his breath. He felt guilty about sending her in there unprotected.  
After a long while, Maria was searched for weapons and then let in to the barn.

He waited till mid afternoon, watching and waiting. Rikell had left the barn a long while ago, but for some reason Maria was still in there. Eventually, Maria slipped out of the barn.  
Ronon began to walk back, towards the barn until he could feel someone watching him. He stopped, his hand resting on his gun.  
"It took you long enough."  
The voice made Ronon cringe, and heat seethed through him. He spun around and drew his gun, to an already waiting Rikell.  
"I didn't mean to disappoint." Ronon smiled sarcastically.  
"I have to admit, I'm surprised to see you here. I would have thought you're dog of a mate would have come collected her trash by now."  
Ronon glared at him, doing all he could not to lunge for Rikell's throat. When he killed him, Ronon wanted it to be slow.

They began circling each other, until Rikell stopped.  
"Let's fight this out like true warriors." He said before surrendering his gun.  
Ronon surrendered his gun and pulled out a knife, Rikell copying.  
They began to circle each other again, until gunshots and screams became known in the distance.  
The familiarity of the gunshots distracted Ronon, and Rikell took this as his opportunity to strike.  
He lunged for Ronon, and reopened the wound on his arm.  
They began rolling around throwing punches and kicks simultaneously.  
They separated and Ronon managed to stand and try to run for his gun however a sharp pain hit the back of his head. Ronon fell to the ground and felt himself being turned over.  
He opened his eyes just in time to see Rikell kick his face. Dazed, Ronon felt helpless. The pain than came from his nose was unfathomable, and he felt the blood pour out.  
He closed his eyes tried to remember to breathe.  
Blue eyes came from the darkness, along with blond wavy hair, and a smile that lit up the woman's face.  
Leyna smiled at Ronon and begged him to come home.  
"I will" he whispered back to her, "I will."_  
_  
His eyes snapped open and Ronon looked at Rikell fiercely. Rikell tried to stab Ronon with the knife. Ronon grabbed Rikells arms, the blade just inches from his face. Ronon grunted as he tried to push the dagger blade away from him. Suddenly Rikell's body recoiled and weakened immeasurably. Ronon used this temporary window of opportunity to reverse the advantage. He flipped Rikell on his back and without a second thought, slit his throat with his blade. Blood poured out like a waterfall and Rikell choked, eventually stopping and taking one last breath.

Panting Ronon looked for his gun.  
"Looking for this?" A familiar voice asked.  
Ronon turned around and John stood about ten feet away, twirling Ronon's gun with his fingers.  
"Yea I was." Ronon smiled.  
He walked up to John, took his gun and hugged him in a tight embrace.  
When he pulled away, he was shocked to find John throw a fist in his face.  
"What the hell was that for?" Ronon shouted, holding his jaw.  
He looked to see John holding his fist in pain.  
"I'll give you one guess." John replied.

Ronon stood straight, and nodded, his head held low.  
"I shouldn't have left her." He said quietly.  
John looked to Ronon, "Well yea that too."  
Ronon was confused; why the hell had he hit him if it wasn't for leaving Leyna?  
"You didn't invite me." John said.  
Ronon knew John wanted to go with him from the very start. He knew he deserved it.  
"You're the only person I knew could take care of her." Ronon said.  
John nodded in understandment, "Let's go home." He said.  
Ronon shook his head, "Not without Magine."  
"There are too many guards. We're outnumbered!" John yelled.  
"Then I don't leave."  
"I said you are going home. You have no idea how much Lena needs you." John scolded  
"Yes I do."  
"No, you don't"  
"Yes I do!" Ronon shouted, "I was there that day you let her go off world. I saw her. I know. And believe me; I am not going to fail her now, more than ever."  
Ronon stalked off towards the village, changing his gun from stun to blast. He was aware of John following behind him.  
"I'm not letting you go alone this time." John said, catching up.  
Ronon smiled.  
Together, they went in.  
Guns blazing.

* * *

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep_.

Ronon woke to the sound of a monitor beeping along with his heart beat.  
"Ronon?" a woman's voice called. It was not _his _woman.  
He slowly opened his eyes, and saw Teyla sitting on his bed, her hand in his. He smiled groggily.  
"Hey."  
"How are you feeling?"  
"Drugged."  
"I'll get the doctor." Teyla laughed  
As the minutes passed, Ronon began to feel a lot better. He looked around to the familiar Atlantan structures.  
"Well hello there Ronon." A eerily familiar accented man spoke.  
Ronon thought he was dreaming. But there standing next to Teyla, John, Rodney and Dr. Keller, was Carson.  
"Doc?" Ronon said. He prayed to hell he wasn't dead. Leyna would kill him.  
"Who else is as good lookin' as me?" Carson smiled.

The confusion was too much for Ronon. Dr. Keller stepped forward to speak.  
"During the time you were away, I found what was wrong with Carson. I created the serum, and we took Dr. Becket out of his frozen state two weeks ago."  
He had missed so much in the past 6 months.  
"Well I know you're in shock. But I must say, I'm a little hurt." Carson mocked Ronon.  
"It's good to see you."  
"Aye. You too lad. Well I suppose I should tell you, your bloods are fine. I stitched that nasty laceration on your arm, and you woke up pretty quick after the anaesthetic. You'll be walking around in no time." He smiled.  
Ronon nodded, and looked around the room.  
"She's not here." John said.  
"What? Where is she?" Ronon asked. Why she would not be here. Did she hate him for not bringing Magine back? Wait. What Did he bring Magine back? What the hell happened?

"She's been on the mainland the past few weeks. An attempt to get her mind off you. My people are very good at distracting." Teyla smiled.  
"What happened?" Ronon asked John,  
"We went in, I got hit." John gestured to his bandaged stomach, "You pulled me out of the way."

_***Flash back***"Sheppard! Can you hear me? Sheppard!" Ronon shook him vigorously. Blood poured from his wound as he tried to put pressure on John's stomach.  
He looked around at the marines that were down, and the ones that were wounded. He looked to Teyla, who looked to him and then John. He saw McKay cowering behind her. He looked to the people he loved, his family, and sighed as he made the call.  
"Fall Back!" he yelled, picking John up, "fall back."  
The price to pay was too great. They needed to fall back._

_***End of Flash Back***  
_  
"I remember." Ronon said dryly. They weren't able to get Magine back. He had Failed Leyna.  
"We weren't able to find Maria. She just disappeared." Teyla said, her brows furrowing.

"When can I get out of here?" He asked.  
"I'm surprised you're asking." Carson said, "Baby momma must have taught you patience."  
Ronon whipped his head around to Carson. His eyes suddenly widened in regret.  
"It's ok I know about the baby. I just didn't think you'd met her." Ronon reassured.  
"Oh aye. I've met her alright. She's absolutely beautiful. You did well." Carson smiled.  
Ronon chuckled.  
"I'll give you a lift to the mainland." John said. "Just put some clothes on, I'll be waiting in the jumper bay."

Carson gave him the all clear and within 15 minutes, Ronon and John were flying to the mainland.  
He was scared about seeing her.  
"I stopped her from going through you now." John said to cut the silence.  
"Thank you." Ronon quietly said.  
"She was a mess. Didn't stop crying for days. The entire city heard it. Rodney even tried to sing to her." John laughed.  
Ronon wasn't in the laughing mood. He imagined it all too vividly in his head. This was his fault.  
"When she found out she was pregnant. She got better. I asked her why once. Just being curious. She said it was because it was your baby. She felt like you were with her, cuz' it's half of you and half of her." John's voice became quiet, as they landed on the mainland.  
"I'll never forgive myself." Ronon said more to himself, than to John. He stood up, and walked out of the jumper.

He followed the trail to the Athosian village. He was greeted with the Athosians and was told where Leyna would be. He slowly walked down to the river.  
He walked as slow as he physically could, suddenly feeling anxious. His eyes caught sight of a woman by the stream. Washing her face with the water. He ducked behind a tree as he watched her turn around and pick up a pair of Bantos rods. He smiled at the déjà vu of her dancing around on the grass, practicing her attacks alone. He chuckled to himself at how rigid she was. When she turned towards him, her enormous belly poked out. Her face was serious, yet thoughtful, as she once again turned her back to him and began her one sided attacks.

Ronon could take it no longer and silently made his way behind her. Expecting it this time, as she spun around ready to lay a blow to his face, his hand whipped up and caught her arm.  
Leyna gasped as their eyes met. She dropped her bantos rods immediately and Ronon let go of her arms as she backed away. Tears formed at her eyes, and her hand flew to mouth, failing to hide the sobs that escaped her lips.  
"Leyna." He whispered, taking a step forward. She took a step backward in the same moment.

This is what Ronon feared the most. He looked pleadingly into Leyna's eyes, and saw only hurt. Her brows furrowed in disbelief, and tears poured down her cheeks. Ronon closed his eyes, and hung his head. He had never felt weaker.  
"I'm so sorry." He whispered.  
He was utterly petrified that she would never forgive him. He had failed her. He had returned with nothing to show for all the time he spent away from her and their unborn child.  
He felt a warm hand touch his face. His eyes flew open as her shaking hand held his cheek. Her eyes were full of shock, and pain, and disbelief.  
"Please forgive me." He said. His voice sounding so loud in the silent meadow.  
"There is nothing left to forgive." Her voice trembled.  
"Am I really so far past forgiveness. Can I never regain your trust...your heart ever again?"

A sad smile formed at her lips. Her hand dropped from his face to his hand.  
"There is nothing left to forgive, because the man I love left to give my brother the funeral he deserves and came back. He put his life on the line, to make me happy. There is nothing left to forgive, because my warrior finally came home."

Leyna smiled as Ronon look stunned at her words. All this time, he had been so worried that she would not forgive him for coming home with Magine, but really she would never had been able to forgive him for not coming home at _all_.

The love he felt for Leyna came rushing all at once. He felt like he was going to explode with the amount of affection he had for the woman in front of him. Leyna's eyes roamed his body, and her face turned to worry as she noticed the ugly stitches on his arm.  
"You're hurt." She said, her arms touching the stiches. Ronon watched as her eyes furrowed into that pout he had missed so much. He pulled her hand away, and smiled at her confused expression.  
He dropped her hands and grabbed her face. Pulling her into a kiss that threatened to set the entire meadow on fire. Leyna's arms flew around Ronon's neck and opened her mouth as she pulled him hard against her face.

Ronon felt a small nudge to his stomach.  
"What was that?" He asked pulling away, panting from their passionate kiss.  
"Our baby." Leyna smiled.  
Ronon's raised his hands and placed them on her large belly. He felt nudges and kicks, everywhere.  
Emotion stuck in his throat and he thought he was going to choke.  
He never thought in a million years after Melena, that he would ever be feeling his baby kick in a woman he loved so desperately and unconditionally.  
"I love you." He whispered, touching his fore head with Leyna's.  
"I love you to," Leyna whispered back, "But promise me something."  
Ronon looked at her, "Anything."  
"Don't leave me ever again. From now on, we live together, or we die together."

For the moment, Ronon felt like richest man in the galaxy. He had everything; a man could ever what, right there in his hands. But his heart still pained at his failures.  
Magine was not home.  
Maria was nowhere to be seen.  
And his biggest failure of all, Melena.  
He thought nothing would ever come close to the pain he had felt for Melena dying. But as he thought of loosing Leyna or their child, Ronon's stomach lurched with grief.  
Leyna looked into his eyes, with seriousness. If he promised this, she would not let him break it. If he didn't then she would feel betrayed and be expecting him to leave her again.  
Ronon felt the pressure of deciding not only his future, but Leyna's future as well. If he agreed, he would tire their fates together permanently.

"I promise." Ronon said, claiming her lips once again. His hands roaming all over body.

**To be continued...**

**Authors Note:** Ronon's back yay! and i brought carson back, doubble yay! But don't settle down yet. There are about three more chapters left. Keep reading to see the long awaited ending. I hope you liked this chapter as much as I did. I missed their sexy embraces, even if Leyna is a humongous whale! Haha.  
Please review me with your thoughts. Even suggestions. I will take any criticism. Just review!


	23. Deserving

**Author's note:**Please forgive me, I haven't updated in soooooo long.  
I've been so busy with work and school I've had no time to update.  
Please forgive me!  
A LOT happens in this chapter, but I'm so excited as there are only three more chapters left!  
Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 23: Deserving.

_**Atlantis**_

Leyna woke to feel of her baby kicking her recklessly. Her eyes flew open and she looked around at the Atlantis room. After Ronon returned, he helped Leyna move back to Atlantis where Sam gave them a large two bedroom quarters. It was plenty of room for both of them plus their baby. They could have six kids, and still would feel squished!

Her stomach growled loudly in the silent bedroom.  
"So that's why you woke me up." She giggled.  
Carefully taking the bed sheets off her, she tried her best to not move a sleeping Ronon on the other side of the bed.  
Ronon was an incredibly light sleeper thanks to his runner years and Leyna knew Ronon was probably awake already.  
Putting on her satin dressing gown, she waddled out of her bedroom to find her slippers. She thought she heard movement from the bedroom, but as she paused to listen, expecting Ronon to walk out any second, she was met with silence and an empty room.

Again Leyna waddled out into the hallway heading for the mess hall. Her large belly growled and she quickened her pace.  
"I'm going as fast as I can little one." Leyna laughed.  
She felt like she was being watched. Her senses were on high alert.  
She felt a small taste of metal in her mouth, letting her know someone was following her with a weapon. Leyna's heart rate didn't quicken though. She knew who it was.

As she walked into the kitchen of the mess Hall, she spoke to the empty room.  
"If you were going to follow me, why didn't you just walk with me?" She asked, knowing he could hear her.  
"If you wanted me to come with you, you would have asked me." Ronon said, his face holding the smallest hint of a smile.  
"I always want you with me." Leyna smiled, turning back to the food in the kitchen.  
She got herself two plates of food.  
"You know me too well." Ronon chuckled as she handed one plate to Ronon.  
They sat in the dark mess hall eating. The sound of the ocean soothing the atmosphere.  
"So why did you bring your weapon?" Leyna asked. Ronon eyes flickered up to hers.  
"What weapon?" He said, his poker face unmoving.  
Leyna raised her hand and used her powers to magnetically pull the dagger blade from some part of Ronon's body into her hand.  
"This weapon." Leyna said unimpressed.  
"It's just in case?"  
"In case what?"  
"In case something happens" Ronon eyes grew darker.  
Leyna scoffed. "In case I get attacked by a plant? Come on Ronon, its Atlantis."

Ronon's jaw tensed as he said this. She knew she was bringing up bad memories.  
"It wouldn't be the first time. Have you not heard of what happened to Dr. Keller?"  
Leyna rolled her eyes. He always proved her wrong. She knew very well about the plant life that attacked Dr. Keller. It was when Ronon fancied the doctor.  
"Yes, I have heard of the time you saved your damsel in distress." Leyna said bitterly standing from her seat.  
Even though Dr. Keller was with Rodney and Ronon was with her, she didn't like thinking about him with someone else. An arm wrapped around her shoulders.  
"You adorable when you're jealous." Ronon chuckled. Leyna smacked him and tried to walk faster. He kept up easily.  
"Besides," he said shrugging his shoulders, "You're my only damsel in distress."  
This made Leyna contempt and she felt Ronon kiss her neck giving her shivers down her spine.

A sharp pain punched her in the abdomen. She gasped and hunched over. Ronon caught her in seconds.  
"What is it? What's wrong? Is it the baby?" he asked in a panic.  
Leyna struggled to breathe as her stomach felt like it was being ripped in two. When she didn't reply to Ronon, she felt him sweep her off her feet.  
"Ronon I'm too big." She said between breaths, her face wincing in pain.  
Ronon grunted as if offended.  
"Doc, I need help." Ronon shouted. Leyna realised they were in the infirmary.  
"Just a minute lad." An accented man called out.  
"No. NOW!" Ronon shouted impatiently.  
A man she had met a few times came walking in and as soon as he saw Leyna his sprinted to her side.  
"Leyna my dear, what's wrong? Where does it hurt?"  
Leyna showed Carson where it hurt and winced in pain as he pushed on the tender spot.  
Ronon held her hand and tried to soothe her. It was a poor attempt.  
"I'll need to do some tests. Leyna..." Carson said to her. His face was pleading and asking for permission  
"What aren't you telling me?" Ronon demanded, looking at Leyna.  
"Leyna has decided to be 100% natural in regard to her pregnancy." Carson answered for her, "She doesn't want any ultrasounds, no medicines, and no drugs when she's in labour. She only comes in a few times to see if the baby is healthy. Doesn't even want to know the sex of the little one."

Leyna rested her head back on the bed not looking at Ronon. She felt his dark gaze on her.  
"Do the tests." She heard Ronon say. Her eyes flickered to him.  
"Ronon No!"  
"I'm not letting anything happen to you. Do you understand that? Nothing. If you need to take a simple test, then you're having it."

Leyna sighed. She was in too much pain to argue. She nodded closing her eyes.  
"I'm sorry." Ronon whispered in her ears, "I just can't let anything happen to you."  
She opened her eyes to look at Ronon. His face was now soft and pleading.  
"It's ok." Leyna said, taking Ronon's hand.

She prayed to the ancestors their baby was alright.

* * *

Carson was relieved when Ronon gave permission for the tests. Not only did Leyna need it as she was visibly in pain, but it would finally put an end to all the suspicion Carson had in his head.  
Leyna was abnormally large for six and half months. She looked like she was eight or nine months at least.  
Carson knew everyone just thought it was because she was carrying Ronon's baby, but Carson knew that that was probably only part of it.

He took some blood samples and did quick tests with them. Eventually he come back with the results.  
"Well your blood tests have come back good. You're blood it perfectly healthy. I think it may be to do with the foetus. I suspect that it may be pushing you're insides. It may be even too cramped so its stretching out and kicking your organs. It could explain the abdomen pain."

He looked to Leyna who's face was strong and composed. He then looked to Ronon, who face was worried and confused, like he didn't understand. Carson smiled. At least something's didn't change.  
In all the things different since he was in a frozen stasis, the one thing that had changed the most was Ronon. This incredibly beautiful woman had turned Ronon into a compassionate human being. Carson saw how happy Ronon was around her. He saw how protective and worried he was of her. Carson felt joyous as he could also see how much Ronon and Leyna loved each other.

He pulled the ultra sound around to Leyna's bedside and explained to her that he would be able to see a 3D image of the baby when he put the handle on her stomach. He would be able to tell if the baby was healthy, safe and if it was the one causing the pain.

Just as he was about o put the jelly on the Leyna's stomach. The infirmary door slid open.  
"Leyna! We just heard, are you okay?" John's voice shouted. He was followed by a worried Teyla, McKay, Dr. Keller and Sam.  
"Give her some room." Carson spoke, "We're just about to have an ultrasound."  
Jenifer gave him a confused glance.  
"I thought you didn't want to use technology?" she asked Leyna  
"She's using it if it means her safety." Ronon answered for Leyna. His voice even yet strong.  
"Well I found these things to be quite moving." Teyla smiled walking around to put an hand on Ronon's shoulder. "It was when I first saw Torren in my body."

Carson watched as Leyna smiled and then turned her head towards him, motioning him to continue.  
"This may be a wee bit cold dear."  
Leyna squirmed as he squeezed the gel over her stomach and then began to probe around her belly with the handle. Dr. Keller walked around to look at the screen.  
"Oh my god." Jenifer gasped; her hand flew to cover her mouth.  
Carson smiled as his hypothesis was correct.  
"What's wrong?" Ronon asked stand up trying to look at the screen.  
Carson turned it away.  
"Leyna doesn't want to see the..._baby_. That goes for you too." Carson smiled  
"It the baby alright?" Leyna asked  
"Why did you say baby funny?" John asked.  
"What are you hiding?" Rodney chimed in as well.  
Carson couldn't contain his excitement.  
"Leyna my dear. You have nothing to worry. Everyone is well and healthy. Your organs are just running out of room and bruising from all the kicking." He chuckled.

"What do you mean everyone is alright?" Leyna asked him.  
Carson bit his lips. "You said you didn't want to know about the baby until after the birth."  
"Oh come on Leyna!" John whined  
"Please!" Teyla giggled.  
Carson watched as Leyna looked to Ronon, who gave her a slight nod.  
"Okay fine. Show me my baby." Leyna said, her own excitement bursting out.  
Carson turned the monitor to the rest of the room.  
He smiled as gasps came out from every person.

* * *

Leyna did not know how to respond.  
When Carson turned the screen, she was so excited to finally see her baby. What she was expecting, was to see her _other_ baby.  
"They are both quite large babies. I suspect their getting impatient, and are moving around a lot. This one here," Carson pointed to the larger baby of the two, "Seemed to have stretched out too far. That was the pain you experienced before. Other than that, they are perfectly healthy."

Leyna barely heard what Dr. Beckett said as she stated at the two foetuses on the monitor.  
Their little fingers moved, their little legs twitched and their backs curved round the lining of her belly.  
She was having twins.  
"Do you want to know their sex?" Carson asked her. Everyone screamed yes.  
"I guess so" She chuckled. Carson gave her a sympathetic smile.  
"The bigger one here, "Carson pointed to one of the small babies, "Is a boy. The other one is a little girl. Congratulations, you have one of each."

Ronon suddenly squeezed her hand. She looked to him nervously. They hadn't planned for one let alone two. What if he didn't want two?  
"Are you ok?" Leyna asked.  
"Why are you asking me? You're the one that had two human being inside of you." Ronon chuckled.  
"You're not angry? I know we didn't plan this. We aren't even married. You're not going to leave me?" Leyna said quietly. The others were ogling over the pictures from the ultrasound.  
Ronon's face fell, and his eyes became sad, "Do you honestly think i could live without you? Do you really think I would leave you just because we're having twins?" His voice broke.  
A tear trickled down her face, "I don't know. It was so easy for you to leave."  
Ronon's face was surprised and then pained as he took in what she said.  
"I left for you. Besides, I made a promise. Live together or die together."  
Leyna smiled and grabbed his face. Her lips crushed on his in full passion and desperation.  
Ronon pulled away suddenly, a twinkle in his eyes.  
"What?" Leyna asked him. Ronon smiled.  
"It's just something you said before. About us not being married." He said, his face beginning to glow.  
"What are you saying?" Leyna asked with a shaky voice. Everyone had stopped and turned to listen in. Leyna's heart quickened. Ronon grabbed both Leyna's hands and leaned closer to her face.  
"Marry me." He said his deep husky voice and soft as velvet.

Gasps entered the room but Leyna couldn't breathe. Her babies kicked her motioning for a breath. She inhaled deeply.  
" Yes!" She laughed through her tears.

* * *

_One month later_  
Ronon was having an off day. He and John were sparring and John had gotten a few good hits in.  
"You okay buddy? I've actually hit you three times in a row."  
Ronon grunted and landed an attack on John, flipping him to the floor.  
"I'm fine." He said.  
"Great." John breathed, clearly winded.  
"I don't know what to give her." Ronon blurted out.  
"What?" John asked. Trying tp pull himself up.  
"For the wedding. We both agreed to have one tradition from each home world in the wedding. As a Satedan, a man must give his woman a gift that she keeps forever. I don't know what to get her."  
John retook the sparring pose, "Well you already got her pregnant." He smirked.  
Ronon lunged forward smacking him in the back.  
"It was a joke! Jesus! I was kidding. Ouch." He hissed. Hopping around the gym.  
Ronon laughed in amusement, "Sorry, had to get even."

John glared at him and surrendered. They walked out of the gym and for the first time, both of them were sore.  
"Rings." John said out of the blue.  
"Huh?" Ronon asked completely lost.  
"On earth, the man and woman give each other rings. It is a sign of matrimony, as well as letting everyone else know that they belong to someone." John shrugged.

Ronon thought about it and he surprisingly like the idea.  
He wanted the world to know that Leyna belonged to him and no one else. No other man could have her. With the exception of their son.  
"Where do I get those?" He asked John as they headed into the mess hall.  
"Don't worry. As your best man, I'll take care of it." John smiled.

Ronon laughed. As soon as Leyna had accepted his proposal, John had declared himself best man. Ronon was at first confused, but after having it explained he didn't mind John being best man. If he had to, he would have picked John for the job anyway.

Leyna had picked Teyla to be her 'maid of honour' as John called it. They had planned almost everything within a week. Speaking of a week, it was exactly seven days to their wedding.  
Ronon and Leyna had decided to be married before their babies came, so they had some time to their selves before the long haul of crying, nappy changes and sleepless nights took over.

"Why did Leyna decide to have the wedding on the mainland?" John asked as they walked into the mess hall and grabbed some food.  
"She said she wanted it to be outside. It's not like we can go to any of our home worlds." Ronon shrugged.  
John seemed to accept the answer but Ronon knew that was not the real reason. He had asked Leyna himself and she had told him that it was the first time they were together as a family. When Ronon had come back from his long absence, and he held their family for the first time.  
He, Leyna and their babies.  
After hearing her reason, Ronon couldn't agree more.

* * *

**Wedding Day – Mainland**Ronon waited nervously in the tent waiting for Leyna.  
It was a tradition in Sateda to not see the bride for 5 days before the wedding and on Andorra, it was 3.  
They both settled for two.

The past two days were full of worry, anxiety and anxiousness as Ronon was worried for Leyna. He missed her terribly and longed for the wedding to come. Now that it was here, he was nervous.  
He had never felt nervous in his life, but there was always a first for everything.  
"You ready?" John asked walking into the tent.  
Ronon practically leapt out if his seat.  
"Where is she?" Ronon said trying to get past John.  
"She's just outside. Although I still think you should do it the way I told you to. It feels odd having you both walk out together."

John was still confused about the ceremony. He had explained that on earth the man watches the bride walk down the aisle, and they met where the priest or minister stood at the end. Ronon and Leyna however, had decided to walk each other down to the little stream where Colonel Carter would perform the ceremony. They had the bonding ceremony, and then after that they were having what all of Atlantis was calling the wedding reception, and then in the privacy of their own quarters, the gift exchange.

Ronon was brought out of his thinking as his eyes caught sight of the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.  
John held the tent flap open as Leyna walked in with her hair curly and braided around her face. It flowed loosely around her neck and down her back.  
Her smooth skin was glowing and her eyes were the ocean blue of the deep.  
Her dress was white, due to the influence of Jenifer and it hugged her bodice snugly and loosely hung to the floor over her bulging belly.  
He was speechless.

"Teyla made the dress." Leyna said shyly. Her face blushing a crimson red.  
"You're so beautiful." Ronon stammered, feeling like an utter idiot.  
"You ready?" She asked, reaching for his hand.  
"More than you know." He replied taking her hand.

They walked out to the stream were they saw Teyla and Kanaan holding Torren, Rodney and Jenifer hand in hand aswell as Carson and Lorne waiting for them with the biggest grins. John and Sam followed closely behind them.

The ceremony was short but sweet. It was with the people they cared about, without any fuss, and no complications.  
They danced a little, before flying back to the mainland where the newlyweds were given a surprise reception on Atlantis.  
This kept them busy until the early hours of the morning.

"You're wife's dead on her feat." Carson chuckled to Ronon.  
His chest burst with satisfaction as Carson called Leyna his wife, but his eyebrows furrowed as he looked down to his sleepy bride in his arms.  
"I think we should be going." Ronon said.  
He and an exhausted Leyna thanked everybody before making their way to their quarters.

Ronon didn't even get to lock the door before his face was pulled down to meet Leyna's. Her lips crushed on his and Ronon moaned as her breath intoxicated him.  
"So now you're not sleepy?" he chuckled after they had pulled away.  
Leyna shook her head, "I've just wanted to be alone with you for the whole evening."

Ronon chuckled and guided her towards the bedroom where he sat her on the edge of the bed.  
He dove into his pocket and took out two rings.  
"Ronon!" Leyna gasped in shock, "They are beautiful."  
He shrugged as if to say it was nothing. "John had them shipped directly from earth. He said it was a tradition on earth for married people to wear rings. As sign of their bondage."  
Leyna nodded as she gently touched the rings in his palm, "They also let everyone else know, that the person wearing the ring belongs to someone. This way, everyone will know you are mine."  
Tears began to glisten in Leyna's eyes as she nodded in understanding.  
Ronon gently fixed the ring onto Leyna's finger "I was told it must go on this finger." Ronon said, and Leyna did the same with Ronon's ring.  
"My turn." Leyna smiled, yet her face was anxious.  
"What's wrong?" Ronon asked.  
"Nothing," She assured, "I'm just nervous about showing you."  
Ronon was confused, "Showing me?"  
Leyna nodded.  
She slowly turned around, and slipped the straps off her dress, pulling it down to her belly; she gently pulled her hair around to the front.

On her shoulder blade, just beneath her brand, was a sentence tattooed in a language Ronon did not know.  
Leyna was met with silence, and she began to worry that Ronon was angry.  
"Rodney helped me with the translation." She began. She felt Ronon's fingers gently began to trace it. "It's Atlantian, as a symbol for the home I have with you and our family."  
"What does it say?" Ronon asked before she could finish her sentence."  
She dropped her hair back down, and turned to face him.  
"_My heart and soul lies within my warrior_." Leyna whispered.

So many emotions ran through him, but none of them were anger.  
He didn't know how to respond.  
He ended up doing the only thing he knew how.  
Leyna's fears were banished as Ronon towered over Leyna's and claimed her lips in a deep and passionate kiss.

He began to take off her dress as he toppled over her, careful not to squash her belly.  
While he could not express the words to tell her how much he loved her, he could definitely show her.

**To be continued.....**

Please review.  
Three chapters to go!  
:)


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